CONCISE 

STATEMENT OF FACTS. 



RELATIVE TO 



THE TREATMENT 



EXPERIENCED BT 

SIR HOME POPHAM, 

SINCE HIS RETURN FROM THE RED SEA : 



TO WHICH IS ADDED, THE 

CORRESPONDENCE, 

NAVAL, MILITARY, AND COMMERCIAL, 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY 

THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY, fee, 

FROM 

SIR HOME POPHAM, 

25JJRING HIS COMMAND IN THE RED SEA, AND HIS SUBSEQUENT 
EMBASSY TO THE STATES OF ARABIA. 



lonDon ; 



1S05. 

Price two Shillings and Sixpence. 



'T)M* 



• % V *?. ** 






T. Giilet, Printer, Salisbury-Square. 



January 1805 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



TN August 1803, I thought it necessary to 
•^ print several copies of this " Concise State- 
ment of Facts," for the perusal of such of 
his Majesty's Ministers, and other distin- 
guished personages, whose friendship and pro- 
tection, I am proud to boast, have not, in the 
slightest degree, been diminished, by the cruel 
and vindictive attacks on my character, honour, 
and reputation, which were then made, and 
afterwards pursued with unabated malignancy, 
by certain creatures and advisers, who had, un- 
fortunately for the country, but too much 
influence with the late Naval Administration. 
While their efforts were confined to an official 
inquiry into my proceedings, conducted as that 
inquiry seems to me to have been, in a manner 
a 2 contrary 



IV 

contrary to every established precedent in the 
service, and to that strict regard to candour 
which every public administration ought to 
entertain, I forbore to obtrude my case upon 
a liberal and enlightened Public, to which 
I ' should not now have appealed, but for a low 
and scurrilous publication, which has lately 
made its appearance, under the title of " Ob- 
" servations on the Concise Statement of Facts, 
" said to be privately circulated by Sir Home 

" POPHAM." 

I must here remark, that I gave to these 
facts every necessary publicity, freely trans- 
mitting copies of the pamphlet, without any, 
injunction to secrecy ', to all those who knew 
and felt the oppression under which I labour- 
ed, and who were pleased to take an interest; 
in whatever regarded my justification. On the ; 
other hand, what has been the conduct of the, 
very candid Observer by whom I have beeii 
attacked? His garbled sheets v ,still reeking from 

the press, which had groaned under the slanders 

they 



they contain, were sent under cover to the sea- 
ports, on board of the squadron I command- 
ed, and to every quarter where I was best 
known, with a view to ruin me in the esteem 
of those with whom I acted, or who were su- 
bordinate to my orders. I will ask of any one, 
who reflects, for a moment, on the importance 
of the service with which I was then entrusted 
by the Commander in Chief in the North 
Sea, whether, granting that I had merited all 
the obloquy heaped on me by the writer of the 
pamphlet in question, such an act, which led 
to the destruction of all discipline and subor- 
dination, would not still have betrayed in him 
a thorough want of principle and patriotism? 
He sets out by an assertion, to which quite as 
miich credit is due as to the other parts of his 
production, namely, that not any one of the 
late. Admiralty Lords had obtained a sight of 
my "Concise Statement of Facts/* until the 
]Qth of November last, a very few days before 

tO si Q i i 1 B 

his pamphlet made its appearance. They all 

knew from the beginning that it was in private 

- • 

circulation, 



circulation. This he grants ; and I shall 
take the liberty to add, that they also knew 
some of the individuals who possessed copies. 
But, strange to tell, their curiosity to hear how 
I had undertaken to defend myself, was not 
excited till November last, fifteen months 
after the publication in question. The fol- 
lowing is the true solution of the enigma, at 
least according to my simple apprehension ; 
that is, that in spite of the most malignant 
persistance, in the distortion of facts, not a 
single charge could be substantiated against me ; 
and that I could be best assailed by the publicity 
of the report made by the Navy Board on my 
case, at a time when I was employed on the 
enemy's coast, on a service to which the Public 
looked with some degree of earnestness. In this 
point of view, the purposed procrastination of 
my enemies, in noticing my publication, can 
alone be seen.* In the continuation of the 

* If there wanted any proof of the fell malignancy of 
the author of the pamphlet alluded to, it would be found 
in his having printed the reports in question, and circulat- 
e d them with uncommon industry, unaccompanied by their 

only 



Yll 

" Concise Statement of Facts/' which is now 
in the press, and will appear in a few days, I 
shall reply to that Report, every charge con- 
tained in which, I must here observe, is, in a 
great measure, invalidated by the last sentence, 
in which the Commissioners of the Navy ac- 
knowledge, that they departed from every of- 
ficial precedent, and acted in direct violation 
of their established usage, in making an ex parte 
statement, to please the Lords Commissioners. 
More of this hereafter. In the interim, I must 
express my surprise, that the writer of the Ob- 
servations, who is so well versed in garbling 
and disguising facts, was not careful to omit 
in his pamphlet this concluding sentence of 
the Report. He must be a sad bungler in 
politics, not to have perceived, that he could 
not have fallen on so effectual a mode of libel- 
ling his patrons as by its promulgation. But for 

only possible antidote my Answers, What would be said of 
the real objeft, or of the heart of a man, who should pub- 
lish an indictment with the most resentful annotations, in 
the absence of the person accused, and before he is put 
upon his trial, or has time to make his defence ! ! ! 

him 



vm 

bim, it would still have remained in the ar- 
chives of office. That those who signed this 
official Report of the Navy Board were not its 
framers, I can with confidence assert ; they 
could not, circumstanced as they were, deny 
it the sanction of their names; but' they qua- 
lified their act by the declaration to which I 
have alluded, namely, that, on this occasion, 
they had departed from their established usage. 
Whether the writer of the Observations is, 
or is not the individual who drew up the 
Report, and who, for that purpose, caused him- 
self to be shifted from Committee to Com- 
mittee at Somerset House, is of little im- 
portance. On the one supposition, he must 
have violated the trust reposed in his public 
and official character, since he was bound to 
keep every transaction secret; and, in the other, 
he must have obtained surreptitiously, and for 
sinister purposes, a copy of the Report, drawn 
from the hitherto sacred security of office. In 
either case, his moral turpitude is the same, 
and covers him with eternal shame and disho- 
nour. 



hour. He states that his pamphlet is an answer 
to mine ; I trust that the Public will at once 
jfee that mine is but a remonstrance, and his 
a direct attack, by publishing a Report (un- 
accompanied by my reply to it) with various 
strictures, as unworthy as they are unjust 
It is impossible, therefore, in my opinion, for 
any person to form a proper judgment till he 
has seen the matter which is contained in my 
official answer to that Report ; and here I beg 
to observe, that although I am accused of pri- 
vately circulating my pamphlet, the great fea- 
ture of its contents is my correspondence with 
the noble Earl, who lately presided at the 
Board of Admiralty, and surely this must be 
considered public enough. I have also to re- 
mark, in illustrating this, that my Agent came 
to me the beginning of November, 1803, in 
some degree of alarm, from a confidential inti- 
mation he had received that the opinion of 
counsel had been taken " whether my book 
did not contain libellous matter?" It was 
then in two parts, and I lost no time in trans- 
b mittin£ 



fcnitting it to Mr. Randle Jackson foi bis 
opinion on the subject, which I subjoin. 
I state this to shew that, however the anony- 
mous waiter may have asserted that it only 
eame to the knowledge of the Admiralty last 
November, an impression to the contrary, and 
I may say, a very strong one, existed twelve 
months before that period. 

" I have read over the whole of Sir Home Pop- 
" ham's papers, with due attention. Of the policy 
" of the proposed publication it is not my province 
" to judge. I can only say, that the language in 
" which Sir Home's Case is stated, does not seem 
" to me likely to subject him to legal animadver- 
'" sion. I have suggested some alterations to sof- 
" ten the phraseology, where it inclines to asperity. 

" If Sir Home publishes the papers in question, 
<* I should recommend him not to divide them ; 
" his whole Case will then present itself at one 
" view, and exhibit to the Reader such a connected 
" narrative of zeal, talent, a&ivity, and feeling 
"consideration for the public purse, during a 

" command 



XI 

" command of great trust and importance, as per- 

** haps has rarely been exceeded, It is extremely 

** to be regretted, that his exertions should have 

" been apparently regarded in so different a way 

" by persons filling very high stations in the public 

* 6 service, 

<c Randle Jackson." 

Temple, o&th Nov. i3o$. 

I have now only to hope that the public 
will not conceive the style of my book to de- 
serve such language as is contained in that of 
the Candid Obferver, who has most cautiously 
withheld all my letters to Lord St. Vincent 
and the public Boards, 

Home Popham, 



CON- 



CONCISE 

STATEMENT OF FACTS, 



TO THE RIGHT HON. 

HENRY ADDINGTON, 

First Lord Commissioner of His Majesty 's Treasury, 
Be. &c. &V. 
Sir, 

I solicit your attention to the State- 
inent of Facts contained in the following pages, 
which I am imperiously called on to lay before 
the First Minister of this Country, not altoge- 
ther as an Appeal, but to remove certain im- 
pressions which I hear, from unquestionable 
authority, have been industriously propagated, 
and may possibly have been brought in more 
direct terms before you ; and this at a time 
when, I declare, I had not an idea or expedi- 
te unapplied which could support the honour 



Xlil 

pr advance the interest of the country. How 
far my exertions in these different avocations 
were crowned with success, will be best shewn 
by the testimonies of the Governor General of 
India, and the General Officers with whom I 
served and co-operated in the Red Sea. 

My zealous endeavours on all occasions, my J 
thirst for honour, and my anxious desire to ad- 
vance the prospects of a very large family, while 
acting under the orders of different Ministers, 
and never offering an objection to either sea- 
son, country, or climate, have, I fear, excited 
a degree of jealousy which suspends all impar- 
tial considerations, and may leave me a victim 
to the effects of its unbecoming influence. 

I have reason to complain, because I know 
that evidences in possession have been rejected, 
1 — that facts have been tortured and misrepre- 
sented, — -and that the very means of informa- 
tion have been neglected which carry the most 

unequivocal 



XIV 

unequivocal testimony of the propriety of my 
conduct. 

I have delayed as long as possible to state the 
injuries I have suffered ; and however severe 
their operation may be on my mind, yet I have 
never ceased, from the moment of my return 
from the Red Sea, to apply myself most seri- 
ously in advancing the views of his Majesty's 
Ministers, although I cannot command inte- 
rest to obtain employment in the direct line 
of my profession. 

In committing these sheets to the press, I 
beg it may not be considered as a publication ; 
I have adopted this method merely because I 
esteem it a more preferable mode than manu- 
script, of submitting a few facts to your peru- 
sal, and to that of such Members of the Cabi- 
net Council as I claim the honour of being 
known to ; for if I left such insinuations ta 
the chance of being effaced by time, I should 

ill 



XV 

ill deserve the Commission I hold in his Ma- 
jesty's service, or the patronage which I had 
the good fortune to obtain by my personal ex- 
ertions during the late war. 

I have the honour to be> 
Sir, 
with profound respect, 
your most obedient and 
most humble Servant, 
Home Popham. 



CONCISE 

STATEMENT OF FACTS^ 
8fc. 8fc. 



TT has hitherto been the proud characteristic of 
-**- the Administration of this country, to inspire 
Officers with a confidence tantamount to the exi- 
gency of the service, whether applying to the 
strict letter of an order, or the more extensive 
conception of its spirit. 

Under such impressions, the Romney sailed in 
December, 1800, with a body of troops for the 
Red Sea, to join the Indian Army on the Expedi- 
tion to Egypt. It is not my intention to discuss 
how far this Army was accessary to, or auxiliary in, 
the final expulsion of the French from that coun- 
try ; but to shew how far the influence of per- 
sonal prejudice will operate in pursuing a system 
of extraordinary illiberality, without the smallest 
shadow of public expedience ; by which alone 
every Officer of the Crown ought to be actuated. 

Daily instances of outrage have come to my 
knowledge, almost bordering on a conspiracy to 

b debase 



debase the character of an individual, fh a manner 
as clandestine as it is disgraceful. 

From the conversation of one of the present 
Lords of the Admiralty * with a friend of mine, 
before I had sailed three months, and when he 
had scarcely been seated in his place at the Board, 
I had everything to apprehend, and no chance of 
that impartial consideration which it is his bounden 
duty to exercise on all occasions. 

Since my return to England, I have heard, 
from various Gentlemen of respectability, that ca- 
lumnious reports w r ere circulated, in whispers and 
conversations, with the greatest industry, by those 
very persons who ought to have checked them ; 
and this manifestly with a view of making a public 
impression against me. 

After such conduct on the part of the Admi- 
ralty, it is natural to suppose that a specific letter 
of disapprobation would have been written to me 
immediately upon my arrival in England. On the 
contrary, I have not had one line from the Board 
on the subject of this Statement ; and I submit it 
to the consideration of any impartial man, Whe- 
ther it has been usual, or whether it be decorous 
for so high a power (a power looked up to for 
protection from injustice) to imbibe prejudices- 
without real cause, — to force a degree of con- 
demnation of my conducl, without being heard, 
upon the minds of persons with whom any inter- 

* This was penned in the month of August, 1803. 

course 



course has been held, — and frequently to intro- 
duce the subject, when it could answer no other 
purpose than that of injuring my reputation ? 

On the return of the Romney from the Red 
Sea, the political situation of the country ren- 
dered it necessary that she should be detained 
some time in the Downs, on the Impress Ser- 
vice ; and she then proceeded to Sheerness, 
where her ship's company was employed in 
fitting out ships newly commissioned, under a 
promise of having tickets of leave for fourteen 
days. This assurance probably induced the men 
to exert themselves in an extraordinary degree, as 
can be testified by the Captains of different ships 
they fitted ; but, on the issuing of letters of 
marque, about the 14th of May, 1803, it was 
generally rumoured that no leave would be grant- 
ed ; and at that moment it could not reasonably 
be expected. 

On the 15th (Sunday) some of the ships at 
Chatham, junior to the Romney, for she had 
been the senior ship there since her arrival, re- 
ceived letters to be communicated to the ship's 
company, stating, That, from the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of the times, it was impossible to 
grant leave of absence; and therefore trusting 
that the men would display their wonted zeal, and 
enter for some ship in the harbour ; or otherwise 
that they would be drafted. 

Such a letter was not delivered to the Romney 
b 2 till 



till late in the evening of the 17th*; and then it 
was too late to be read on that evening ; but it 
was done the following morning, Wednesday 
the 18th, 

On an occasion of this kind, it is perfectly well 
known, that the first impression on a ship's com- 
pany is against their Captain, for not exerting 
himself to state their case ; as many of the men 
had been seven or eight years in the ship; and 
some had nine years pay due. 

Just as this degree of irritation was at its 
height, — when every seaman seemed almost to 
wish my instant destruction,-^-and before reason 
could repossess their minds, I received a note 
from Commissioner Hope, desiring me to call at 
his house ; where I found Sir William Rule, 
the Surveyor of the Navy, who, I apprehend, 
had travelled to Chatham in the night. They 
shewed me a warrant from the Navy Board, under 
Admiralty orders, commanding them to proceed 
on board the Romney, and examine into her 
state, as well as into the repairs done, and to 
make a variety of other inquiries, which I do not 
at this moment recollect. 

The Surveyor, Commissioner, Builder, Store- 
keeper, Master-Attendant, and other Officers, 
assembled on board, where they remained some 

* This must certainly have happened from a mistake, or the 
i egleft of some clerk. I am perfectly satisfied in this respect > 
and I rejoice it occurred at such a moment. 

time; 



time ; and then took on shore, to the Commis- 
sioner's Office, the Officers, Warrant-Officers, 
and other people belonging to the ship, for the 
purpose of answering the intention of the war- 
rant just received. 

These Gentlemen immediately established a 
Committee or Court, and proceeded to prepare 
affidavits ; but before they began, I thought it 
necessary to state, that I considered their having 
been on board the Romney with a public warrant, 
although no notification * had been made to me, 
in the nature of a public examination, instituted 
with a view of answering some end ; and that, 
as probably some charges arising from this exa- 
mination, might be brought forward at a time 
when it would be impossible for me to repel 
them, I hoped they would allow me to be present 
during the inquiry. At first some difficulty was 
started ; but it was at length got over, and I re- 
mained in the Committee or Court, till such Offi^ 
cers as the Admiralty deemed it expedient to 
have examined, were sworn, and gave their depo- 
sitions accordingly. 

The most material questions put in direct terms 
were, " What was the state of the ship when she 
left England ?" — What was it when she reached 
Calcutta ?" — " Was it necessary to make any re- 

* I gloried in this surprize; but I believe it is not justifiable 
on any ground of law or common usage of the service. 

pairs ?" 



pairs ?" — and, "Were any made but such as were 
absolutely necessary ?" 

The answers on oath wer& delivered in the most 
pointed manner: — That she made much water in 
the British Channel, and that the evil daily in- 
creased : — That her bends were found very de- 
fective on caulking at the Cape :; — That she made 
from six to eight feet water in an hour, during 
her passage to Calcutta ? — That her wales on the 
larboard side were found quite rotten : — That 
they were forced to make many shifts of planks 
on the starboard side, &c. — and that no work 
was done to the ship but what was absolutely ne- 
cessary to enable her to undertake any service 
whatever. This was the principal inquiry the 
Committee made on the subject of repair. I then 
requested to put one question, namely, " Whe- 
ther, if the Romney had not received the repairs 
in question, considering the weather we expe- 
rienced, she would not, in all probability, have 
gone to the bottom ?" 

This question was not allowed to be answered, 
as the Surveyor considered it fully sufficient to 
know, that the repairs which had been done 
were absolutely necessary ; and that no repairs 
were done but what were really wanted. 

The next object of their inquiry was, " Whe- 
ther I had given proper attention to the stores 
in the different departments?" and, "Whether 

there 



there had been any wasteful or wanton expendi- 
ture of them ?" To the first part, the persons 
examined answered in the affirmative ; and to the 
latter, in the negative ; and to both, in the most 
explicit and unequivocal manner. 

The Lieutenants and Master of the ship having 
attended in the outer room, I submitted the pro- 
priety of examining them, as being men of higher 
rank, better informed, clearer in their recollection, 
and more respectable in their characters, than War- 
rant Officers ; but my proposition was not at- 
tended to, as it appeared that the authority from 
the Admiralty only went to the depositions of the 
Warrant Officers. 

I shall not make any comment on this mode of 
procedure, but leave those who instituted the in- 
quiry to reflect on the possible consequences of 
measures so partial, so uncandid, and so uncon- 
stitutional ; and beg leave to refer the transaction 
in toto to the opinion of the Judges, or of Gen- 
tlemen possessed of a knowledge of the basis of 
our glorious constitution, and particularly con- 
versant in maritime laws. 

In civil courts, the defendant is heard as well as 
the plaintiff; and he is publicly acquainted with 
the ground on which the prosecution is taken up. 
In charges of high treason, the accused is fur- 
nished with a copy of his indictment, is assisted 
by able advocates; and the Judge, instead of pro- 
pagating 



8 

pagating reports injurious to his character, feels 
himself bound to resist the most distant conver- 
sation on the subject, and leans in every instance 
to the most favourable construction of the case ; 
exclusively of which, an objection may always be 
taken to any one of the jury originally. 

How diametrically opposite to the construction 
of our sacred laws has the Captain of the Rom- 
ney been treated ! he could scarcely obtain per- 
mission to be present at the partial examination 
of witnesses in this Court, in which the evidence 
of Warrant Officers was taken, and that of Com- 
missioned Officers refused. 

Can such conduct tend in any manner to the 
maintenance of discipline and subordination, those 
proud pillars of our naval pre-eminence ? and 
can any thing conduce so much to its total anni- 
hilation, as calling on Officers to criminate their 
Captain, and debase him in the presence of the 
very people who ought to look on him with the 
highest respect ? Nay, here is an instance of a 
ship being thrown almost into a state of mutiny, 
and then an indirect appeal is made to the lower 
Officers, and men, to come forward and accuse 
their Commander. 

Although it is almost two years since the re- 
pairs, so much exaggerated, were done to the 
Rornney, no letter or notice of disapprobation 
has ever been sent to me on the subject ; nor 

during 



during nearly three months # that I have arrived 
in England, have I received any communication 
from the Admiralty respecting either the neces- 
sity or extent of those repairs : notwithstanding 
which, insinuations, unjust, cruel, and ungene- 
rous, have been- propagated, apparently by # the 
Admiralty or its subordinate agents, tending to 
make an unfavourable impression against my con- 
duct, without my having any other means of re- 
dress, than by giving a statement of the reports 
which have reached me, and such fadls and cir- 
cumstances as I am in possession of, to remove 
prejudice, and enable those who are so disposed, 
to form a judgment on the unprecedented treat- 
ment I have received since my return from the- 
Red Sea. It may be asked, Why have I not seen 
the First Lord of the Admiralty ? To this I can, 
conscientiously answer, that I have used every 
exertion to obtain that honour. I have repeatedly 
called ; I have pressed my claim, through his 
private Secretary, and supported it by letters, in 
the strongest language I could use. 

As such testimonies exist of the propriety of 
repairing the ship, and that no work was done 
but what was absolutely necessary, and those tes- 

* It is now five months ago 5 and all I can learn at the offices 
is, that they have Mr. Louis's and Mr. Spearman's accounts 
under consideration : — with the former I can have nothing to 
do j but as me latter was appointed by me, I may be con- 
sidered responsible for his conduct. 

c timonies 



10 

timonies drawn from the very channels of the 
Admiralty, would it not have manifested a clear 
and generous conduct to. have transmitted, a copy 
of them to me ? which I was originally promised 
from the Committee, but afterwards refused. 
With regard to the hull of the ship, nothing can 
be more conclusive, except the depositions of the 
Warrant Officers, as to my care of the stores : 
and were it necessary, I would call on every Offi- 
cer-in the- King's service, who has done me the 
honour of visiting the Romney, to state whether 
they ever wished to see more system, order, or 
regulation, in any ship, than appeared on board 
of that which I commanded : and I know, from 
public conversation at Chatham, that professional 
men were of opinion that it was impossible for 
more care to be taken of the preservation of any 
ship, than was taken of the Romney. I felt a 
pride in keeping her always in an efficient state ; 
and she was ever ready for any service, at a mo- 
ment's warning. 

After the reports circulated about this ship's 
repairs, I cannot avoid quoting the three different 
heads of them, though that is a matter with 
which I have no concern. The Naval Officer 
established at Calcutta by Admiral Rainier, who 
is to all intents and purposes, ex officio, a resident 
Commissioner of the Navy, paid the bills, I con- 
clude, on vouchers being produced. To him I 
applied for every article of stores, which it was 

my 



11 

my duty to have done under every circa instance, 
but more particularly on that occasion, as the 
Admiral sent a letter to me at Calcutta, stating 
the official situation of that Gentleman, and 
speaking of him in such high terms of pane- 
gyric, that I subjoin a copy of it. 

EXTBACT FROM VICE-ADMIRAL RAINIER's LETTER 
TO SIR HOME POPHAM, K. M. 

Cf I shall be greatly obliged to you for a copy 
of your ingenious telegraph -signals, when op- 
portunity offers of sending them to me. The 
late Rear-Admiral Blanket (whose death I .sin- 
cerely deplore) was an excellent judge of such 
inventions and improvements. 

6C Mr. Matthew Louis, Deputy Naval Officer 
at Calcutta, is brother to Captain Thomas Louis, 
one of the Heroes of the Nile, and every way a 
deserving character, which was my sole motive for 
procuring that situation for him ; and he really 
appears to be an active, well-informed person." 

The following is theEx tract from the Carpenter's 
bill for repairs, alluded to in the preceding page. 
The head for planks, timber, wood of different 

descriptions, iron, copper bolts, copper for 

three sheets round the ship, &c. &c. &c. Rupees. Sterling, 

about 30,000 - 3750 

Labour of Europeans and Black workmen, 

caulking inside and out, and all the repair- 
ing abaft - - 15,000 - 1825 
The hire of vessels to receive the people, of 

budgerows and boats to carry all the stores, 

and bring anchors and cables over, &rc. &c. 15,000 • 1823 

C2 To 



12 

To this the builders always add a per centage, 
as is the custom of the place, and generally known. 
In short, the whole was 7l 3 000 rupees, scarce 
90001. sterling. 

These were the repairs which have been stated 
to be so enormous ; but in doing which, as I al- 
ready observed, I was in nowise personally in- 
terested, further than as every Officer should be 
for the benefit of the ship he commands, and 
for the preservation of the lives of His Majesty's 
useful subjects committed to his care. 

Were it not from an apprehension of calling 
in question the acts of my brother Officers, it 
would be highly satisfactory to me that a con- 
trast should be made with other ships ; by the 
result of which, I have no doubt, it would be 
found that those repaired at Calcutta exceed by 
one-foiirth to one- half what the Romney cost, 
without being in so serviceable a state as that ship 
was, on her arrival in England. — Vide Oiseau, 
Heroine, La Forte, &c. 

Although I was confident that any Lord of the 
Admiralty, Secretary, or Commissioner of the 
Navy, might administer oaths on subjecls relating 
to the King's treasures or stores, yet I considered 
the whole con duel: of the Admiralty, in this affair, 
to be so ungracious, and so unconstitutional, tak- 
ing that word in its liberal construction, that I 
determined to solicit the opinion of Counsel on 
the best mode of bringing the points at issue to 
an immediate and impartial discussion ; for, after 

what 



13 

what I have heard, and from a letter which I 
have received, and which I may possibly be in- 
duced to subjoin, it appears to me that every 
action has been chelated by a spirit of personal 
prejudice. 

It would certainly have been equally decorous, 
and have manifested a due regard for the cha- 
racter of an individual, had the Admiralty di- 
rected the following, or similar questions, to have 
been asked of the Captains and Lieutenants of 
the ships which served in the Red Sea : 

What was the general conduct of Sir Home 
Popham in the Red Sea ? 

Did he appear to you to keep his ship in so 
perfect a state, as to be ready for service of any 
description at a moment's warning ? 

Did he ever appear to you to make any wan- 
ton or unnecessary expenditure of the stores ? 

Did he appear to you to make any repairs, at 
any one time, that were not absolutely necessary ? 

Did you ever hear, see, or understand, that any 
one act of his, either in the interior discipline of 
the ship he commanded, or in his general con- 
duct as Commanding Officer in the Red Sea, was, 
in the most trifling degree, impeachable ? 

If I might be allowed to put any question, I 
should ask, 

Whether they ever saw a ship, in every point 
of view, better answering the description of a 
man of war, than the Romney, as to her in- 
terior 



14 

terior discipline, regularity, healthiness, and sub- 
ordination both of Officers and men ? 

The preceding Narrative is submitted to the con- 
sideration of Mr. , ivho is requested to 

state j in the most unreserved manner, ivhat the 
Captain of the Romney ought to do. He is 
very anxious, if it be possible and consistent, to 
bring this treatment to an open discussion in 
some Court — especially if an aclion for con- 
spiracy will lie. 

OPINION. 

" I have perused, with all the attention I am 
master of, the foregoing very interesting nar- 
rative, or statement of facts ; and although they 
can leave no doubt on my mind, as to there 
having been much undue, unworthy, and a 
most unprofessional spirit of personal oppression, 
by men to whom the Crown has coniided power; 
yet I feel considerable difficulty in advising the 
measures which ought to be adopted by the op- 
pressed party ; because to act, and not with 
effect, would only expose him to further aggres- 
sion. At present, the aggressors must feel them- 
selves hurt and disappointed to the utmost, upon 
finding their scheme of malevolence injured, and 
their expectations disappointed, by the integrity, 
the judgment, and Officer-like conduct of the 
party against whom their arrows were directed ; 

and 



15 

and if they cannot be attacked with effect, we 
should consider, Whether it may not be more 
prudent to leave them in their present state of 
disappointment and chagrin, rather than, by 
making a fruitless attempt, expose our feeble 
efforts to their derision. 

" Our laws, notwithstanding their boasted ex^ 
cellence, are nevertheless grievously defective in 
many most essential points ; great oppression and 
injustice may be practised ; a man's peace of 
mind may be destroyed, his character blasted, his 
fortune ruined, — and yet, unless the conduct of 
the aggressor be of such a peculiar nature as to 
bring it within some statute, and be against some 
positive rule of common law, it would be in vain 
for the injured party to apply for protection to 
the tribunal of his country. 

" lam clearly of opinion, that no. action at law 
would lie against Sir William Rule, and the 
rest who degraded themselves in the disgraceful 
scene mentioned in the foregoing narrative, on 
the ground of forming a conspiracy against the 
Captain of the Romney. 

w I understand, these Gentlemen are not any 
of them Commissioners acting under the late 
Naval Abuse Act ; and therefore I have not sent 
for that Act : and I am not exactly advised as to 
the nature of the constitution of the Navy 
Board, and their powers ; but by 1 Geo. I. 
cap. 25, sect. 9, I find, that not only the Lords 

Commis* 



16 

Commissioners of the Admiralty, but the Com- 
missioners of the Navy, have the power to act as 
Magistrates, and to administer oaths in cases re- 
lating to the receiving, keeping, and issuing any 
victuals, stores, or provisions of His Majesty's 
Navy, or in any other matter relating to the 
Navy : and by the 10th sect, the Treasurer, 
Comptroller, Surveyor, Clerk of the A6is, or 
any one or more of them, are empowered to 
exercise the powers of that Act in all places. 

" Under the circumstances of the case, though 
a case of considerable hardship, I am not pre- 
pared to say, that the ungracious acts done under 
the direction of the Admiralty, in this case, are 
such as can be termed wholly illegal ; or that 
their informality is so material and tangible as to 
furnish the Captain of the Komney any remedy 
at law ; and therefore I would confine the use of 
the narrative to removing the prejudices which 
the acts in question are calculated to produce, by 
putting it into the hands of such friends in power, 
as by their influence, and from their zeal for the 
injured party, may be disposed to prevent the 
further evil effects of the latent discussions and 
insidious insinuations so justly complained of 
throughout the narrative.'* 

After this Opinion, I do not hesitate to annex 
the Letter already quoted : it will shew that, 
from the moment of my sailing from England., I 

took 



17 

took every possible pains to instruct a numerous 
Quarter-deck of very fine young men ; and on 
reporting their progress, I received this ungraci- 
ous Letter, which could only be dictated by per- 
sonal enmity, and highly unbecoming a Public 
Board. 

TO SIR EVAN NEPEAN", BART. SECRETARY OP THE 
ADMIRALTY, &C. &C. &C. 

SIR, 

I have the honour to inclose you, for the in- 
spection of their Lordships, my Journals from 
Bombay to St. Helena, and afterwards to Eng- 
land, with a convoy of Indiamen. The diary 
of my chronometers, with some additional re- 
marks, are inserted in each Journal; and I hope 
their Lordships will observe, particularly after 
our leaving Bombay, when the weather was clear, 
the number of latitudes taken by the transit of 
the stars during the nights, almost entirely by 
the Midshipmen of the several watches. On 
our entering the Channel, the greatest benefit 
was also obtained by this practice ; which I hope 
will appear so evidently useful in their Lordships' 
opinion, as to induce their interference for its 
general adoption in the Service. 

The altitudes of the stars are taken by a glass, 
which I had affixed to a quadrant in 1787 ; as I 
had previously much difficulty in getting a good 
horizon, and which, under a general order in 

d 1800, 



18 

1800, on my first commanding the Romney, I 
obliged all the Lieutenants and Midshipmen to 
furnish themselves with ; and they now, in gene- 
ral, know as much of pra6tical astronomy as is 
necessary for the purposes of navigation : in- 
deed, some of the Midshipmen are perfect mas- 
ters of chronometers, and every sort of obser- 
vation ; and well qualified to teach others ; and 
should their Lordships deem it expedient to en- 
force this practice in the Navy, by dividing them, 
I shall be very happy to send my forms of star- 
boards, for facilitating this useful practice ; and 
give any other assistance in my power, personally 
or otherwise. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 

Your most obedient humble Servant, 

(Signed) H. Pop ham. 

TO CAPT. SIP, H. POPHAM, ROMNEY, DOWNS. 
SIR, 

I have received and communicated to my 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, your let- 
ter to me of the 17th instant, inclosing your 
Journals from Bombay, and recommending the 
practice of taking latitudes by the stars during 
the night ; and I am commanded by their Lord- 
ships to acquaint you, that the practice is a com- 
mon one ; and for which every Midshipman 
ought to qualify himself before he presents him- 
self to the Navy Board, to be examined touching 

his 



his qualification to serve as a Lieutenant; and 
that their Lordships do not think it necessary to 
trouble you for the forms of star-boards, to which 
you allude. 

I am, Sir, 

Your very humble Servant, 
(Signed) Evan Nepean. 

I question whether either of the Marine Lords 
ever saw the latitude determined by the transit of 
a star over the meridian ; and I will stake my 
existence, that all the latitudes in all the log- 
books since the first establishment of the Navy- 
Board, even including those of the circumnaviga- 
tors, who had astronomers with them, do not in 
the aggregate amount to so many as were taken 
by the Midshipmen of the Romney, in her pas- 
sage from Bombay to England. As I knew I was 
to go over a great tract of unexplored sea, I 
took with me, at my own expence, a Drafts- 
man ; whom I taught Hydrography, on my pas- 
sage out. My chronometers and other instru- 
ments, cost me upwards of twelve hundred 
pounds; and although the Admiralty were offi- 
cially acquainted that I had completed charts of 
the Red Sea, they neither thanked me for my 
labours, nor had they the curiosity to request 
a sight of them. 

After a recital of such facts, I leave every per- 
son to their own conclusions on the conduct of 
d 2 the 



20 

the Admiralty towards me. I certainly should 
not have quoted the preceding reply to my letter, 
if the assertion contained in it was founded on 
fact, and if it did not appear obvious to every 
body, that their personality has been carried to 
such an extent, as to refuse an essential improve- 
ment — because it came from me. 

On my arrival in town from Chatham, I called 
on Lord St. Vincent ; and did so every day till 
the 8th of June, when I requested to see his 
Private Secretary, whom I told that I solicited an 
audience with his Lordship, as havkig returned 
from a command on a station which at this mo- 
ment was a very important one, and respecting 
which he must not only naturally wish to have 
every information, but might possibly like to see 
the charts of the Red Sea. 1 also informed this 
Secretary, that considerations of a private nature 
urged me to press for an interview, as liberties 
had been taken with my name, which were sup- 
posed to have originated from the tenor of Lord 
St. Vincent's conversation ; and that I was 
anxious to bring a high and respectable character 
before his Lordship, that I might have an eclair- 
cissement on this subject ; for if Lord St. Vin- 
cent had not authorized the insinuation, I should 
take the proper steps to satisfy my feelings. If 3 
however, his Lordship had taken up false pre- 
judices, I had no doubt, on my convincing him 
they were so, that he would be most ready to 

make 



21 

make me ample amends on such an occasion. I 
at the same time wrote the following note, which 
I desired Mr. Parker to deliver with the above 
message : 

No. I. 

TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EAEL ST. VINCENT, K.B. 

&c. &c. &c. 

MY LORD, 

I very much regret that your Lordship's indis- 
position still continues to prevent my having the 
honour of seeing you : I deplore it on many con- 
siderations, both public and private ; and I am 
induced to think, from circumstances which have 
come to my knowledge since my return, that you 
will take a different view of many subjects after I 
have the advantage of a few moments conversa- 
tion with your Lordship. 

I can venture to affirm, not only from my con- 
ception, but from the most unequivocal testimo- 
mies, that I have used every exertion to advance 
in totality the public service, on a thorough con- 
viction that such conduct would entitle me to 
your Lordship's protection. 

I have the honour to be, 
London, &c. &c. &c. 

June 8, 1803. (Signed) Home Popham* 

I waited till the end of the month, expecting 
some notice would be taken either of my message 
or my note ; but as this was not the case, and 

mj 



22 

my anxiety to see Lord St. Vincent was very 
much increased, I addressed the following Letter ; 
and nearly at this moment I received Letters 
from the Navy and Victualling Boards, desiring I 
would send to the offices my accounts of disburse- 
ments in the Red Sea, that they might be con- 
sidered as speedily as possible. As I had neither 
made any disbursements, nor had any accounts 
whatever, I transmitted these Letters to Mr. 
Spearman, who acted as Naval Officer, that he 
might comply with their contents. 

No. II. 

TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL ST. VINCENT, K. B. 
&C. &C. &C 

MY LORD, 

In making another effort for the honour of an 
interview with your Lordship, I trust I shall not 
be accused of pressing improperly a claim that is 
highly increased by the peculiarity of my situa- 
tion. The most unfounded aspersions have been 
circulated*, with such an extraordinary degree 
of success, that they now amount almost to an 

* It has been said, as originating from the Admiralty, that I 
went to Calcutta contrary to orders; and that I had a positive 
order not to repair the Romney. I deny both these assertions; 
and I declare I only received two Letters after I sailed : one, 
expressive of their Lordships' approbation at my getting on so 
fast towards ray destination j and the other, directing me to 
embark the Indian Army at Suez, and send it to its destination. 

impeach- 



impeachment, removable only by an appeal to 
your Lordship, whose protection I have considered 
it my right to look up to on this occasion. 

I am satisfied, my Lord, that in a few minutes I 
shall be enabled to convince your Lordship of 
the regularity and propriety of my conduct in. 
every instance ; and my importunity at this mo- 
ment, arises from the possibility of a variety of 
services presenting themselves, in which my local 
knowledge and practical information may recom- 
mend me to your Lordship's notice. 

I can make no doubt but your Lordship 
is aware that, on a former threat of invasion, 
I submitted the plan for raising Sea Fencibles, as 
a measure of auxiliary defence ; which was suc- 
cessfully adopted in England. The military ad- 
vantages arising from this, are applicable in a 
stronger degree to Ireland, with the addition of 
political ones of the utmost consideration. 

I should not have presumed to offer an opinion 
to your Lordship on any other subject ; but as 
this originated with me, I trust I shall receive 
your Lordship's pardon. 

I have the honour to remain, 
&c. &c. &c. 
(Signed) H> Popham. 

To the foregoing I received the following an- 
swer, and immediately sent No. III. 

Lord St. Vincent presents his Compliments to 

Sir 



24 

Sir Home Fopham, and acquaints him, that the 
Admiralty Board have directed the Commissioners 
of the Navy to report on the subject of the ex- 
pences incurred by the ships late under his orders 
in the East Indies ; and when that Report is re- 
ceived, a copy of it will be transmitted to Sir 
Home Popham, with such remarks as the Board 
may think fit to make. 

Admiralty, July 3, 1803. 
No. III. 

TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL ST. VINCENT, K.B. 

&c. he. &C. 

MY LORD, 

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt 
of your Lordship's Note of the 3d instant, which, 
in addition to the public Letters I have already 
received from the Commissioners of the Navy 
and Victualling Boards, informs me those Boards 
are directed to report on the subject of the ex- 
pences incurred by the ships lately uuder my com- 
mand in the Red Sea. 

As the acceleration of every report on my con- 
duct is an object I sincerely wish, I presume to 
submit to your Lordship's consideration, and I 
press on your feelings to allow it, that I should 
be called on by the separate Boards to attend in 
person their Committees of Investigation ; by 
which I may be enabled to explain many circum- 
stances, 



25 

stances, that when led into references would oc- 
casion considerable delay. 

I have no view in offering this mode of pro- 
cedure to your Lordship's consideration, but that 
of obviating difficulties and removing embarrass- 
ments, of which I feel I have had so much rea- 
son to complain. 

I have the honour to remain, 
&c. &c. &c. 
(Signed) H. Popham. 

As no notice whatever was taken of this Let- 
ter, I determined, on the 25th of July, to ad- 
dress 

No. IV. 

TO THE RIGHT HON. EARL ST. VINCENT^ K. B. 
&C. &C. &C. 

York Place, July 15, 1803. (Sent the 26th.) 
MY LORD, 

I feel considerable reluctance in again address- 
ing your Lordship, after my former importunities 
for the honour of an interview ; but there is an 
innate principle, which suspends every repugnant 
sentiment on this occasion, and urges me to per- 
severe in the attainment of that point, which I 
trust I may, without being deemed presumptuous, 
have a claim to aspire to, after the situation I 
have lately had the honour to hold. 

The object of my command in the Red Sea 
was fully answered by the expulsion of the French 

e from 



26 

from Egypt; and your Lordship is apprized of my 
zealous co-operation with the Indian Army, and 
the exertions I made to serve it, from the pub- 
lic reports of General Baird and Lord Welles - 
ley. His Excellency, I understand, has officially 
signified to His Majesty's Ministers, his highest 
approbation of my conduct ; but as I received 
this intimation also, I shall take the liberty of 
inclosing some Extracts of the Letters to which 
I allude (No. I.* and II,*) ; and I do not hesitate 
to promise myself an equal share of your Lord- 
ship's approbation, when I can obtain the advan- 
tage of a personal conference ; and till then J 
presume to state some circumstances, of which, 
however, your Lordship may not be totally igno- 
rant. 

Almost immediately after my arrival in the Red 
Sea, I took the entire command of all the Com- 
pany's chartered ships, and as I observed a num- 
ber to be engaged beyond the exigency of the 
service, I discharged as many as exceeded two 
lacks of rupees a month. 

As I knew I was to traverse a tract of unex- 
plored seas, I procured a Draughtsman in England 
at my own expence, and taught him, as well as 
a numerous Quarter-deck, Hydrography and Prac- 
tical Astronomy, which enabled me, with the as* 
sistance of eight chronometers, and some very 
expensive instruments, to form a Chart of the 
Red Sea, where I also established by practice, the 

possibility 



27 

possibility of beating up against the Monsoon^ 
which was never before attempted ; and I hope I 
possess every other information relative to this 
most important station. 

Colonel Harness's Letter (No. III.) published 
by order of Lord Wellesley, will shew your 
Lordship that, from the particular excellence of 
the Romney's boats, and her well-trained boats' 
crews, 400 troops were saved from the wreck of 
the Calcutta, which no other boat * could ap- 
proach with safety. I mention this, to prove to 
your Lordship, that if any deviation was made 
from the prescribed dimensions, it was crowned 
with the most pleasing sort of success — the sal- 
vation of our fellow-creatures. 

I need scarce mention to your Lordship that, 
while I was at Calcutta, I never suffered a bill 
(nor does one exist in any part of India with my 

* I quoted this Letter, as I heard that it was in agitation to 
make me pay for the boat, because she was not conformable 
to the establishment of the Navy. If she had been so, the 
greater part of this fine regiment would have been lost. The 
same advantage is to be taken of me for whatever improvement 
I have presumed to make in the sails or rigging of the ship. I 
however feel some pleasure in knowing, that a very excellent 
Officer who succeeded me in the command of the Romney, not 
only applied, for the ship being in every respect fitted in the 
manner she was by me, but very publicly expressed his extreme 
pleasure and satisfaction at the utility of all my innovations. I 
declare I have not had any communication with him myself on 
this subject j and I am certain he does not know that I have 
taken this liberty with his name. 

E 2 appro- 



28 

approbation) to be drawn at a higher exchange 
than 2s. 6d. I wrote to the Government on this 
subject, and waited on the Vice-President ; to 
whom I said, " If he did not supply the Naval 
Officer with money, to repair the Romney, from 
the Company's treasury, she might swamp in the 
river, and their interests, as far as regarded her, 
might go unprotected, as T never could sanction 
a bill to be drawn at a higher rate than the Com- 
pany's exchange." I am aware I was a very un T 
popular character at Calcutta, because I ordered 
all the provisions shipped for the Army in Egypt 
to be surveyed ; and some was relanded, and con- 
demned on the quays : — nor was it my good for- 
tune to be on the best terms w T ith Mr. Louis, 
although Admiral Rainier spoke of him in the 
highest terms, when he officially announced to 
me his appointment. I mention jihese circum- 
stances, because I know many people, from mo- 
tives of jealousy and envy, have, in the most in- 
sidious manner, presumed to arraign my general 
conduct ; but I should rejoice to hear, in addi- 
tion to the honourable testimonies which resulted 
from the inquiries made at Chatham, that the 
following questions could be put to the Captains 
and Officers of the ships in the Red Sea, in In- 
dia, or any other in His Majesty's fleet, who had 
ever been in -company with the Romney : 

Whether they ever saw a ship, in every point 
of view, more answering the description of a 

man 



29 

man of war, than the Romney, as to her in- 
terior discipline, regularity, healthiness, and sub- 
ordination both of Officers and men ? 

What was the general conduct of Sir Home 
Popham in the Red Sea- ? 

Did he appear to you to keep his ship in so 
perfect a state, as to be ready for service of any 
description at a moment's warning ? 

Did he appear to you to make any wanton 
or unnecessary expenditure of stores ? 

Did he appear to you to direct any repairs to 
be made, at any one time, that were not absolutely 
necessary ? 

Did you ever hear, see, or understand, that any 
one act of his, either in the interior discipline of 
the ship he commanded, or in his general con- 
duct as Commanding Officer in the Red Sea. was, 
in the most trifling degree, impeachable ? 

In short, my Lord, if any other more pointed 
question could be put, I should be very happy to 
meet the answer, being conscious of having de- 
voted all my exertions to advance in totality the 
Public Service ; and that I never considered any 
separate interest between the Company and the 
Crown : nor would it have been decorous to have 
done so in my situation. 

I have intruded myself very much on your 
Lordship's leisure, with a view of convincing you 
I am not unworthy of active employment at this 
moment ; and of having an opportunity of pro- 
posing 



30 

posing some enterprise to your Lordship which 
you might think expedient to be undertaken at 
so critical a moment, when it is incumbent on 
every Officer possessing local knowledge, and the 
experience of making observations, to submit his 
ideas and plans to Government. 

I have the honour to be, 
&c. &c. &c. 

Signed) Home Popham. 

No. L* 

EXTRACTS OF A LETTER FROM LORD WELLESLEY 
TO SIR HOME -POPHAM, K.M. 

[Quoted in the foregoing Letter.] 

I trust that it will be satisfactory to you on 
this occasion to receive the repetition of my 
highest approbation, and the expressions of my 
grateful sense of the meritorious spirit of alacrity 
and public zeal which I have experienced from 
you, in applying the means within your power to 
the security of the important interests entrusted 
to my charge. 

I shall discharge a most satisfactory part of my 
duty, by communicating to His Majesty's Minis- 
ters my sense of your conduct, on every occa- 
sion wherein the national interests could derive 
any benefit or assistance from your exertions ; 
and I entertain no doubt that you will receive 
their approbation. 

No. 



SI 



No. II.* 

FROM MAJOR-GENERAL THE RIGHT HON. THE 
EARL OF CAVAN. 

I have received a Letter from Major-General 
Baird, of the 4th inst. from Suez ; wherein he 
very handsomely (and I am certain justly) ac- 
knowledges your zealous exertions, not only re- 
cently in embarking the troops there, but also on 
every other occasion, when he was so fortunate as 
to serve with you. The satisfaction his report, rela- 
tive to yourself, gives me, is considerably in- 
creased by my private acquaintance and know- 
ledge of your character ; and I shall not omit the 
first and every opportunity of expressing to His 
Majesty's Ministers, Major-General Baird's senti- 
ments, together with my own, of the great assist- 
ance the public service has received from your 
abilities. In the mean time, I beg of you to ac- 
cept my humble thanks, for your conduct since I 
have had the honour of officially communicating 
with you. 

TO SIR HOME POPHAM, K. M. COMMANDER IN 
CHIEF OF HIS MAJESTY'S SHIPS AND VES- 
SELS, &C. IN THE RED SEA. 



The object of the Expedition on which we 
have mutually been employed, being now so hap- 
pily brought to a conclusion, and as we are soon 

to 



32 

to separate, I deem the present, therefore, a fit 
occasion publicly to express how much I have at 
all times been sensible, and felt the value of your 
zealous exertions and cordial co-operation in for- 
warding the Service. 

It has been a duty no less just towards you, 
than a pleasing tribute to my own feelings, to 
convey these my sincere and perfect sentiments 
of your meritorious conduct and able assistance 
to his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief ; 
and to his Excellency the Marquis of Welles- 
ley, Governor General of India. 

Should it be my lot, on any future occasion, to 
be on active service, and where the Navy and 
Army may be required to act together, I can 
only add, it will be to me the source of real 
satisfaction, again to co-operate with you ; and 
if not, I shall but wish it may be my good for- 
tune to meet with an Officer possessed of your 
zeal, ability, and military experience. 

I beg you to accept of my best thanks for your 
polite attention in ordering the Victor, for my 
accommodation, to Bengal ; and which, I do 
assure you, I consider a very particular favour. 

I have the honour to be, 

with great truth and regard, 
Sir, your much obliged faithful Servant, 

(Signed) D. Baird, 

Major-General. 

COPY 



33 



COPY OP A LETTER FROM LIEUT. COL. W. HAR- 
NESS TO MAJOR-GENERAL BAIRD, DATED 

JUNE 15, J 802. 

[Published by order of the Most Noble the Marquis Weilesley.] 
SIR, 

I have much concern in acquainting you, that, 
the Calcutta transport, with 331 of His Ma- 
jesty's 80th Regiment^ including Officers (agree- 
able to the accompanying return) and 7g native 
Indian followers, was wrecked at three o'clock, 
A.M. on the 13th inst. on the Egyptian shore, 
in 28 deg. 38 rnin. 

The distance from the shore^ when she first 
struck, did not appear more than half a mile. 
It was blowing fresh, the sea ran high, and 
the surf beat with so much violence against 
her stern, that the planks of her cabin were al- 
most instantaneously stove in ; her upper masts 
were cut away ; and, in attempting to get out the 
boats, one of them was swamped. 

As her situation was deemed critical, I ordered 
an Officer and 30 men into the long-boat, hoping 
they would make the shore ; but, with the most 
lively pain, I saw her swamp from the wreck. 
A serjeant and six privates were drowned ; the 
rest fortunately swam ashore. 

We had now no boat remaining; — the gale in- 
creased. She was reported to have made six feet 
water ; and her Officers were not without appre- 
f hensions 



34 

hensions of her going to pieces. At seven o'clock 
three ships appeared in sight; but so much to 
the leeward, that with the sea and wind, with 
which they had to contend, little hope was enter- 
tained of their affording any assistance. How- 
ever, we soon discovered one of the vessels to be 
His Majesty's ship Romney ; which, about ten 
o'clock, anchored at about two miles and a half 
from the Calcutta, when Sir Home Popham di- 
rected the Duchess of York to anchor at a mid- 
dle distance from us ; and at twelve, the Rom- 
ney's lauch came on board. By nine in the even- 
ing, every man of the 80th, except the seven 
drowned in the long-boat, was taken on board the 
Romney. 

It is to the skilful position Sir Home Popham 
took up, so as to enable his boats to sail to and 
from the wreck ; — to the excellence of the boats 
(for although two transports came up in the 
course of the day, not a boat could they venture 
out) — -and to the dexterity and perseverance of 
his well-trained boats' crews, we are eminently 
indebted for the salvation of so many lives. 

The humane personal attention of Sir Home 
Popham to the comforts of the troops, many of 
whom reached the Romney in a very weakly 
state, will long be remembered with the warmest 
gratitude. 

On the morning of the 14th, the Romney 
having dragged from her anchorage, Sir Home 

cut 



35 

cut his cable, and ran for this bay ; leaving the 
Duchess of York to take on board any bag- 
gage that might be accidentally saved from the 
wreck : the sea had reached her main-deck be- 
fore the last division of the detachment left her. 

At this place we found shelter, from the sun 
and weather, in a few buildings inhabited by 
fishermen : we therefore landed the whole of the 
detachment on the evening of the J 4th, waiting 
the arrival of His Majesty's ship Wilhelmina, 
from Suez ; whither Sir Home Popham has dis- 
patched directions for her to hasten to this place, 
to take the detachment to Madras *. 
I have the honour to be, 
&c. &c. &c. 

(Signed) W. Harness, 
Lieut. Col. 

Just as I closed this Letter, which I sent, I re- 
ceived the subjoined Note from Earl St. Vin- 
cent ; and being solicitous to ascertain whether 
the delivery of my Letter of the 4th was delayed 
till the 22d, as specified in his Lordship's Note, I 
lost no time in making the necessary inquiry, when 
I found it was given in at the Admiralty the mo- 
ment it was written, by a confidential person from 

* General Lake has very lately transmitted the above Let- 
ter officially to the Duke of York, with a very handsome ac- 
knowledgment from himself; and his Royal Highness was 
pleased to inclose it to the Admiralty, where, with many other 
testimonies of my services, it remains a Dead Letter. 

p 2 my 



36 

my agent, who lives in Whitehall, where I wrote 
it. I immediately afterwards addressed a Note 
to Lord St. Vincent, thanking him for his 
advice ; and assuring him I should lose no time 
in pursuing a line of conduct laid down by so re- 
spectable an authority. — On the same day, I wrote 
to Sir Evan Nepean the Letter No. V, 

lord st. Vincent's note, 

" Lord St. Vincent presents his Compliments 
to Sir Home Popham, and, in reply to his Letter 
of the 4th inst. received at the Admiralty yester- 
day, begs to observe, that it will be proper he 
should apply to the Board, through their Lord- 
ships' Secretary, respecting any steps which he 
may be desirous of having pursued with regard 
to the subject therein mentioned." 

Rochetts, July 23, 1803. 

No.V. 

TO SIR EVAN NEPEAN, BART. &C. &C. &C. 
ADMIRALTY. 

London, July 26, 1803. 
SIR, 

The Commissioners of the Navy and Victual- 
ling Boards having desired me, in pursuance of 
their Lordships' directions, to send to their re- 
spective Boards any accounts I might have relat- 
ing to the ships lately under my command in the 
Red Sea, I lost no time in ordering Mr. T. R. 

Spearman, 



37 

Spearman, who conducted the duty of Naval 
Officer on that station, in conformity to the pre- 
cedent established by Admiral Blanket, to trans- 
mit, with the least possible delay, an account of 
all his disbursements to the several Officers ; and 
I, at the same time, submitted to Lord St. Vin- 
cent's consideration, the expediency of directing 
the several Boards to call for my personal attend- 
ance before their Committees of Investigation, as 
offering the most expeditious mode of giving 
them such explanations as they might require, 
and of bringing every point to immediate issue. 

I last night had the honour to receive Lord 
St. Vincent's Answer to my Letter of the 4th 
fust* directing me to apply to their Lordships 
through you, respecting any steps which I 
might be desirous of having pursued with re- 
gard to the subject mentioned in that Note; 
and as the acceleration of every report on my 
conducl is an object I sincerely wish, I request 
you will move their Lordships to direct the Com- 
missioners of the Navy and Victualling Boards to 
take any accounts which can be considered as re- 
lating to me, into immediate investigation ; and 
to call for my personal attendance* whenever it 

* No notice whatever has been taken of my Letter to the 
Navy Board. I have frequently called, and offered any per- 
sonal explanation which I possessed ; bat I have as regularly 
been given to understand, that the accounts of Mr. Louis were 
at some of the Yards, — and my presence was not necessary. 

may 



38 

may be thought I can forward an object which 
cannot receive too early an examination. 

I have the honour to be, 
&c. &c. &c. 

(Signed) Home Popham. 

As the Admiralty sent a copy of the above Let- 
ter to the Navy Board, I thought it would save 
much time by addressing that Board myself, and 
transmitting such papers as I conceived would 
forward the objects in question, without waiting 
for any references from it. 

TO THE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS AND COMMISSIONERS 
OF HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY, LONDON. 

York Place, Aug. 3, 1803. 
GENTLEMEN, 

As I have reason to suppose the copy of my 
Letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Ad- 
miralty, under date the 26th ult. has been trans- 
mitted to you, requesting that Mr. Spearman's 
accounts, who acted as Naval Officer in the Red 
Sea for the squadron I commanded, under 
the precedent established by the late Admiral 
Blanket, — -as well as any accounts that can be 
considered as relating to me, may be taken into 
immediate consideration ; and as I am anxious for 
an acceleration of your Report, I think it may 
not altogether be supererogating on my part, to 

transmit 



39 

transmit some documents, which may satisfy 
your minds that I took even more than common 
precautions to guard the public interest. 

The particular examination at Chatham, of some 
Officers and people chosen for that purpose from 
the Romney ; the difficulty I had in obtaining per- 
mission to be present ; the objection to put one 
question from me,< — to know Whether, if the re- 
pairs which were done, had not been done, and re- 
collecting the weather we experienced afterwards, 
the Romney would not have foundered ? — have 
induced me, as the Court was formed by your 
order, and composed of Members of your Board, 
to trouble you on this occasion. 

The result of the examination, while I was 
present, went, in a few words, to these points : 
" That the repairs which were done to the Rom- 
ney were alsolutely necessary; and none were 
done but what were so ;— That I took every care 
of the King's stores ; and never made any wanton 
expenditure of them." 

This I consider to be conclusive in* regard to 
the Romney ; and I have some satisfaction in 
knowing that no ship, under such circumstances, 
ever had so little repairs ; and if it was necessary 
to make references, it would be found that the 
repairs of other ships was nearly double ; and the 
justice that was done the Romney in such repairs, 
has been publicly evinced, by her having been re- 
commissioned within a few days after my pendant 

was 



40 

was ordered to be hauled down ; and I am not 
aware that a precedent of such a circumstance 
exists. 

My case, in regard to the exchange, is mani- 
fested by the bills drawn when I was at Calcutta, 
which never exceeded 2s. 6d. The same restric- 
tion I observed in the Red Sea, which was not 
the case before. 

The Naval Officer's Letter (A) will prove this 
assertion ; and when there was a demur about 
granting more money from the Treasury, I abso- 
lutely told the Vice-President, that the Romney 
might swamp at her moorings, and the Company's 
interest go unprotected, if it was not issued at 
2s. 6d. for her repairs. 

The Letter (B) will shew that I did not omit 
reproving Mr. Louis when it was necessary. 

The order to Capt. Sause (C) must be satis- 
factory as to the precautions I took, with regard 
to the Sensible, before I sailed from Calcutta. 

I believe no bills were drawn by me after No- 
vember, 1801 ; which can be ascertained by refe- 
rence, and a comparative statement made between 
the exchange of the bills drawn under my appro- 
bation in the Red Sea and those of other Officers. 

I have the honour to be, 

&c. &c. &c. 

(Signed) Home Popham. 



TO 



41 



(A) 

TO SIR HOME POPHAM, K. M. CAPTAIN OP HIS MA- 
JESTY'S SHIP ROMNEY, AND COMMANDING 
HIS MAJESTY'S SHIPS AND VESSELS IN 
THE RED SEA. &C. &C. &C 

Calcutta, 0^.29,1801. 



Not having been able to obtain cash for bills on 
the Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy on the 
terms offered to the public, and as you have po- 
sitively directed that I should not deviate from 
those proposed by the Honourable Company, 
under a conviction of its being attended with 
consequences equally injurious to both Govern- 
ments, I request you will be pleased to apply to 
the Honourable the Vice-President in Council for 
an advance of a lack of rupees, in Treasury Bills, 
for His Majesty's Naval Service at this port ; viz. 
fifty thousand towards providing the stores and 
supplies ordered for the use of His Majesty's 
ships Sheerness, Wilhelmina, and Victor, in the 
Red Sea ; and fifty thousand more on account 
of His Majesty's ships repairing and fitting at 
this port. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 

Your most obedient Servant, 

(Signed) Matthew Louis, 

Deputy Naval Officer. 



TO 



A1 



(B) 

TO SIR HOME POPHAM, K. M. CAPTAIN OF HIS MA- 
JESTY'S SHIP ROMNEY, AND COMMANDING 
A SQUADRON OP HIS MAJESTY'S SHIPS 
AND VESSELS IN THE RED SEA, 
&C. &C. &C. 

Kedgeree, Nov. 20, 1801. 
SIR, 

I conclude, my reply to the Letter I had the 
honour to receive of the 17th inst. could not have 
reached you when you left town ; and I there- 
fore embrace the opportunity your arrival now 
affords me, of replying to it, with a view to re- 
move those impressions which the representations 
mentioned in your Letter appear to have excited, 
so much to my disadvantage. 

I am not aware that His Majesty's Service has 
suffered the smallest disgrace from my conduct in 
the discharge of my duty as the Naval Officer at the 
port of Calcutta. On the contrary, I am conscious 
of having exercised every exertion in my power 
for the good of the Service. No demands were 
ever brought me, bearing your signature, that I 
did not direclly accept for payment ; and in 
the particular instance to which your Letter im- 
mediately applies, the required advance for the 
tow-boats for His Majesty's ship Romney, 
was made many days before she left Mayapour. 
The day I left town, Mr. Shore informed me a 

further 



43 

further advance was necessary ; and I told him 
the money should be paid the moment a receipt 
was sent for the required amount ; but no such 
receipt had been sent when I left town : prior to 
which I had accepted all the bills for pilotage, 
assuring Mr. Law they should be discharged on 
the dispatch of the ship, until when his bills had 
never been discharged by me on any former oc- 
casion ; and which assurance he was perfectly sa- 
tisfied with. 

I trust, therefore, you will do me the justice to 
make me acquainted with the name of the author 
of this malicious representation, as well as with 
the names of that variety of other complainants 
who have caused this general impression against 
me in your opinion, — that I might be enabled to 
remove it, as fully to your satisfaction as I feel 
myself bound to do in support of the situation I 
have the honour to fill, and in justification of my 
own innocence : and I beg you to be perfectly 
assured, Sir, that His Majesty's Service shall 
never incur the least impediment or disgrace by 
any tardiness whatever on my part, in satisfying 
the just claims of individuals, in my province to 
discharge, by your order. 

I have the honour to be, 

&c. &c. &c. 

(Signed) Matthew Louis, 

Deputy Naval Officer. 

G 2 ORDER 



44 

(C) 

ORDER TO CAPTAIN SAUSE FROM SI* H. POPkAM. 

From the Report of the Builders, respecting 
the worthiness of the Sensible to be repaired and 
new coppered ; from the opinion of Mr. Stol- 
id art, the Naval Architect now in Calcutta, that 
she has the finest bottom he ever saw ; — and from 
my own judgment, after a minute examination of 
her timbers in dock, I have determined that she 
shall be repaired and coppered accordingly. You 
will therefore use your utmost exertions to for- 
ward the repairs of the said ship, seeing that the 
Black Carpenters, who are naturally indolent, 
work the whole time they are on board ; and 
give every other superintendency in your power 
to forward this work. You will also return all 
stores that are unserviceable, and likely to be so 
in the course of a short time, as it will be very 
difficult to replace them on our arrival in the 
Red Sea ; and indent for every thing necessary to 
complete her with six months stores. You will 
see that the proper Officers take the requisite re- 
ceipts from the Naval Officer ; and that they are 
particular in the examination of all stores deli- 
vered, rejecting such as are not in every respect 
fit for His Majesty's Service. Your exertion to 
get His Majesty's ship under your command fitted 
with every possible dispatch, is at this moment 

verv 



45 

very much desired, as she is wanted to return to 
the Red Sea, with a convoy of vicl nailers and 
transports. After she is out of dock, you will 
take the earliest opportunity of reporting to me 
when, in your judgment, she will be ready for 
sea, that I may make my arrangements accord- 
ingly. 

(Signed) H. Popham. 

TO THE COMMISSIONERS FOR VICTUALLING HIS 

majesty's NAVY. 

No. 12, York Place, August II, 1803. 
GENTLEMEN^ 

As I have every reason to believe that the 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may call 
for the account of the bills drawn under my ap- 
probation by Mr. T. R. Spearman, who acled as 
Agent Victualler to the squadron I commanded 
in the Red Sea, and that it may be their Lord- 
ships' wish to know the purpose for which such 
bills were drawn, I take the liberty of calling 
your attention to some points which will establish 
my care and attention to the public interest. 

Before I quitted the Red Sea for Calcutta, I 
could not but notice the enormous premiums on 
bills at Mocha and Juddah ; and I therefore, to 
avoid incurring so great a loss, clirecled Mr. 
Spearman to furnish himself with what cash he 
might want for the purchase of cattle before he 
left Calcutta ; and the advantage which he de- 
rived 



46 

rived from this negotiation, is carried, by my 
order, in his account current, to the credit of 
Government. 

I also took care that the same conduct should 
be pursued in the Red Sea which I established at 
Calcutta ; and I would not sanction the issue of 
any Bill on your Board at a higher exchange than 
2s. 6d. which, I am confident, is much lower than 
customary, and certainly the lowest rate ever 
drawn from that country. 

I have the honour to be, 

With every respect, 
Your most obedient humble Servant, 

Home Popham. 

I trust it will appear from the preceding Cor- 
respondence and plain Statement of Facts, that I 
have courted every possible channel from which 
information could be expected, in the hope of 
obtaining some Public Document, by which I 
might be enabled to meet such objections as the 
Admiralty have thought proper to urge against 
me. The silence with which my applications 
have been treated, does not manifest a desire of 
rendering justice to an injured individual. It was 
presumed, as a basis of the complaint exhibited 
against me, that I had appointed Mr. Louis 
Naval Officer at Calcutta ; but although every 
conviction was offered to the contrary, I cannot 
learn that any steps have been taken to remove 

so 



47 

so unjust an impression. I never knew Mr. 
Louis until he came down the river to meet me 
with Admiral Rainier's appointment ; a Copy of 
which I immediately transmitted to the Navy 
Board. 

I have submitted evident proofs of my atten- 
tion to the rule of exchange ; that I resisted all 
advance, while I was in Calcutta, beyond the 
maximum established by the Company ; and that 
no bill, on a similar occasion, was ever drawn at 
a lower rate than was authorized by my signa- 
ture. My extreme precaution, in directing that 
money should be taken to the Red Sea from Cal- 
cutta, to provide for exigencies, is evinced in my 
last letter to the Victualling Office ; and the sub- 
stance of all I have said may thus be briefly 
stated : — 

That on my arrival at Calcutta, I applied to the 
proper office for every thing I wanted : — That 
the repairs of the Romney amounted only to 
71,000 rupees, instead of the enormous sums re- 
ported : — That no ship which ever underwent a re- 
pair in Calcutta cost so little ; many, double that 
sum :- — That the repairs done, were absolutely 
necessary ; for the affidavits taken by the Board 
assert, That she was so leaky as not to be kept 
clear with two pumps ; and that justice had been 
done in the repairs, was manifest from her having 
been put in commission a few days after my pen- 
dant was ordered to be- hauled down. 

J gave 

< 



48 

I gave Captain Sause very particular orders 
with respect to the attention he was to pay to 
the equipment of the Sensible, before I sailed 
from Calcutta ; previous to which Mr. Louis had 
scarcely drawn for a sufficient sum to answer the 
expences incurred by the Romney. 

I trust that, to justify every part of my conduct 
in the eyes of all disinterested and impartial men, 
it is unnecessary for me to enter much more in 
detail on this subject ; and my only motive in 
going so far, is to establish beyond the reach of 
envy and suspicion, an irreproachable character, 
such as ought to distinguish every Officer hold- 
ing His Majesty's Commission. In effecting this, 
it is far from my intention to ascribe blame un- 
deservedly to others ; but when I have been denied 
every means of removing partial misrepresenta- 
tions ; when that excellent maxim of our laws 
(audi alteram partem) has been in my case to- 
tally disregarded, it is possible that I may have, 
on some occasions, expressed myself with the 
warmth of wounded and insulted honour. 

In the course of this Narration I have occasi- 
onally introduced some Letters from the Gover- 
nor General of India, and the Commander in 
Chief of the Indian Army serving in Egypt ; 
and I flatter myself that every Officer in that 
Army will do me the justice, to say, that no op- 
portunity was neglected by me of forwarding the 
service to the utmost of my ability; of establishing 

the 



49 

the most perfect unanimity, or of contributing' ta 
the accommodation and comfort of the Soldiers. 
The Governor General's Letters go far beyond 
this ; and I shall therefore annex such parts of 
my Correspondence with him as unequivocally 
establish my attention to every branch of the 
Public Service, in the various duties which were 
entrusted to my charge. 

York Place, Sept. 2, 1803. 

As I have reason to believe that it was 
never thoroughly understood in what situation I 
went to the Red Sea; and many invidious asser- 
tions having been circulated — that I arrogated 
power unbecoming my station — that I had no 
command — and was merely "dispatched with a 
convoy of troops intended to co-operate with 
the Indian Army : I am impelled to state, with- 
out quoting any part of my instructions, that I 
was entrusted with the command of that part of 
the Expedition to Egypt which went up the Red 
Sea ; that much Mas left to my discretion : and 
that I had no reference, except to the Governor 
General of India, and the Commander in Chief 
of the Indian Army. Exclusive of this, I had a 
Political Mission from the Secret Committee ; 
and was afterwards regularly appointed Ambas- 
sador to the States of Arabia. 

I overtook General Baird, and carried him to 
Cosier, where. the Indian Army was disembarked; 

h and 



50 

and after that was effected, Admiral Blanket 
anchored there for a few days, on his return to 
India ; but declined any interference in that Bay, 
by public order *. 

My Letters to Lord Wellesley will shew how 
I was occupied in the Red Sea ; and his Excel- 
lency's Answers, which I submit with pride, will 
testify his opinion of the effecls of my industry 
and zeal to promote the interests of the Company 
on all occasions, which were too much blended 
with those of the Crown, to consider them in a 
distinct point of view, 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
QUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAPTAIN 
GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS 
IN THE EAST, &C, &C. &C, 

MY LORD, 

I took advantage of the occasion which Mr. 
Stokes offered me at Mocha, on the 7th of 
May, to announce to your Excellency that three 
of the ships of my squadron were then in the 

* « GENERAL ORDERS. 

*' Leopard, Cosier Bay, June 1 6. 
" The Admiral desires Sir Home Popham would continue to 
direct the ships and transports at this anchorage, the same as 
before the Admiral's arrival, as it cannot be better done ; and 
directs that every attention be given to the orders issued by Sir 
Home Popham, 

(Signed) « tj. Surridge." 

Roads i 



51 

Roads ; and of my intention to proceed the fol- 
lowing day to Juddah, with the Victor, although 
the Sensible could not accompany me, from the 
time it would take to complete her with water 
adequate to the consumption of the troops em- 
barked on board. 

The passage was made with tolerable expedi- 
tion ; and I felt great pleasure in seeing, when I 
was off the harbour of Juddah, that General 
Baird's division was there, completing its water 
as fast as the disposition and activity of the na- 
tives would allow. 

The General's presence at Cosier being of 
much more consequence than the attainment of 
additional water, I proposed to him, the instant 
he came on board, to allow of my dispatching a 
proportion of the ships the next day, followed 
each successive one by a similar numbe^ till the 
whole had quitted the port ; and for the same 
urgent reason^ to accept the accommodation of 
the Romney for himself and Staff, as promising a 
quicker mode for reaching that place. His readi- 
ness in acceding to my first proposition, and the 
pleasure he expressed on meeting some person to 
direct the Naval Operations, could not but enhance 
the satisfaction I anticipated, by conferring with 
him, during the passage, on the objects of our 
expedition, and the various methods which sug- 
gested themselves of bringing each to a proper 
and honourable conclusion. 

h ^ On 



52 

On Sunday the 7th of June we made Cosier. 
The Victor was then so far a-head, as to have 
intercourse with the Roads ; and communicated, 
by telegraph *, Colonel Murray's intention to 
march that evening across the Desert. This was 
immediately stopped ; although it was afterwards 
proved, from the state of the mussacks, that 
moving a body of troops was totally out of the 
question. 

General Baird landed the day after our arrival ; 
and measures were soon taken for disembarking 
the troops and stores, ready to embrace any cir- 
cumspecl: arrangement which information and a 
more perfect knowledge of the country, the situa- 
tion of the European Army, and a variety of other 
circumstances might point out, as the most proper 
for accomplishing the combined or partial views 
of your Excellency's instructions to General 
Baird. 

As the General's Dispatches will accompany 
this Letter, your Excellency will thereby be ac- 
quainted with every minute particular attaching to 
the situation of the Army, its resources, and its 
disposition for advance, which was necessarily 
altered by different reports from the interior, and 
the observations of those Officers who were the 

* Alluding to the Telegraphic Signals, or Marine Vocabulary, 
which was used for all communications between the Army and 
Navy by General Baird ; and since my return to England I 
have printed a Second Edition. 

first 



53 

first to encounter the hazards and fatigues of this. 
dreary Desert, so manifest, that I cannot resist 
assuring your Excellency, under the fairest cir- 
cumstances, and with every advantage which you 
promised yourself should attend the Army, the 
undertaking would have been an arduous one ; 
and consequently rendered more so from a va- 
riety of disappointments which the General de- 
termined should be made subservient to the im- 
perious call of an early junction with General 
Hutchinson before Cairo. 

When every expedient had been offered, to re- 
move the difficulties under which the Army la- 
boured, and to facilitate its march across the De- 
sert, it became necessary to consider of its sub- 
sequent arrangement, and provide the means of 
putting it into immediate action on the secondary 
services pointed out by your Excellency, or pre- 
serving the transports in an effective state for 
its re-embarkation when the campaign in Egypt 
should be concluded ; and with a view to both 
these objects, dependent equally on the intelli- 
gence we might receive from General Hutchin- 
son by the Nile, or Admiral Blanket at Suez, 
I was induced to write the accompanying Paper, 
No. I. for General Baird's consideration ; and 
as we had, from a variety of reports, some reason 
to hope that General Hutchinson would be en- 
abled to assure himself of the conquest of Cairo, 
without the assistance of the Indian Army, I had 

also 



54 

also proposed a rendezvous^ to General Baird, for 
all the armament, equally a porte to the point of 
your Lordship's wishes, — that more time might 
be given for an ultimate decision on the most 
proper mode of attack. 

Admiral Blanket's arrival, however* on the 
l6th of Jane, with Letters from General Hut- 
chinson, decided General Baird to accelerate 
his junction by every practical means ; as much 
on account of relieving the European Army from 
its distress for want of money, as any other con- 
sideration. Indeed, I am astonished that an ap- 
plication had not been made to your Excellency 
from home ; for it must be evident, that no ne- 
gotiation by bills, could support so extensive an 
Army as will necessarily be kept in Egypt till 
its fate is decided. 

I have omitted stating that it was my intention, 
at the particular instance of General Baird, to 
have accompanied the Army with a body of seamen 
across the Desert, and to Cairo ; but Admiral 
Blanket was so averse to the measure, that on his 
quitting Cosier, he put every discretion out of the 
question, by ordering me to Mocha before he would 
make his dispositions to leave me in command of the 
Red Sea : he, nevertheless, left thirty seamen and 
an Officer, which I intended to complete to any 
number the General might require ; but on the 
eve of his departure, he declined their services, for 
the reasons assigned in his Letter, No. II. 

I, was 



55 

I was so well aware of the hardships with which 
the Army had to contend in the undertaking of 
the Desert, that I desired General Baird to have 
no delicacy in applying to the resources of the 
ships under my command, but to use me on all 
occasions without reserve ; and I very much re- 
joice that the expedient I originally proposed, of 
small casks in lieu of the mussacks, was at last 
attended to with success. It is unnecessary to 
trouble you w T ith the several acknowledgments in 
this respect, as I am satisfied he has already an- 
ticipated my anxiety to prove to your Lordship 
how seriously and sincerely I have at heart the 
well-doing of the Army, that it may be enabled 
finally to accomplish all the objects of your Ex- 
cellency's commands. 

In the various returns that were given to me, I 
could not but observe the liberality which was 
shewn on the part of Government, in its very 
nice and scrupulous attention to every comfort 
that a soldier could require, or an Officer wish to 
have in his power to bestow ; but I fear, Sir, that 
the detail of these very laudable intentions has 
not been managed with that degree of circum- 
spection and caution which a subject of such mag- 
nitude required ; owing, probably, to your Ex- 
cellency's not having attached to you a person 
used to embarkation, and qualified, from expe- 
rience and professional knowledge, to afford your 

Excel- 



56 

Excellency some assistance in this and other 
highly essential parts of so extensive an armament. 

Without entering into any very detailed re- 
marks on the different points which are subject to 
stricture, I cannot omit stating to your Excel- 
lency, that the person or persons who had the 
charge or contract for supplying the mussacks and 
superintendance of the tanks, particularly those 
fitted at Bombay, are highly reprehensible : to 
the sad state of the greater part of the mussacks, 
has been owing the detention of General Baird 
so long at Cosier : he tried every experiment to 
remedy the evil so radically bad, that after much 
labour and perseverance, it was scarce sufficiently 
overcome to enable the Army's moving, even by 
small detachments ; and this could not have been 
well attempted without recourse to casks, and 
some pocaully bags,, purchased from the natives as 
they brought them in. 

From the irregularity and confusion which ap- 
peared generally to prevail in loading the ships, 
it was impossible to obtain the quantity of stores 
and provisions on board of each ; I therefore, to 
make the investigation as public as possible, in 
this and other instances where the interest of the 
Company and individuals, as well as the conduct 
and character of the latter, was concerned, ap- 
pointed general and partial Committees, to survey 
and report the state and condition of these ar^ 

tides, 



*7 

tides, and the cause of failure in the water-tanks, 
which might eventually have been attended with 
the most serious consequences ; and in these ap- 
pointments, a Committee was named for auditing 
accounts, and taxing all bills for stores spared to 
the Army, or work done on its account. 

The formation of these Committees will be 
seen in No. Ill : to which is added, the Report 
on the Sarah's tanks ; those in other ships were 
exactly similar. 

One very material and truly charitable esta- 
blishment has, I fear, escaped the notice of Go- 
vernment : — A Surgeon, specially nominated to 
take charge of the sick Lascars belonging to the 
transports, as your Lordship must be aware that, 
in a fleet of from twenty to twenty-five sail, with 
a complement of 100 men on an average, casual- 
ties will arise beyond the care of a simple medi- 
cine-chest, and a few common-place instructions. 
To remedy this, however, for the present, I di- 
rected the Surgeon of the Romney to attend on 
board ; and attached the Mate to the sick of the 
Milford (the worst ship) in tents on shore, and 
any others that might be occasionally sent, under 
the proposition No. IV. until your Excellency's 
pleasure should be known. 

My next object was to see how far a reduction 
in the enormous expence of tonnage could be 
effected, by making some arrangement to dis- 
charge those ships which appeared extravagantly 

i freighted ; v 



58 

freighted ; and to dispense with others of little 
use, and certainly very incompetent either to the 
service in question, or what ought to be expected 
from the high price given. 

The Paper, No. V. explains this alteration * ; 
and your Excellency will observe, in addition to 
the ships which I have recommended to be dis- 
charged, and sent to India on that account, there 
are two ordered to Bombay, and two to Calcutta, 
for the purpose of returning with stores and pro- 
visions. I did this, under the conviction that 
they could not be wanted for some months 
in the Red Sea ; and thereby the freightage of 
four ships will be saved to the Company, and 
the commerce of the country consequently less 
cramped in its regular and very laudable enter- 
prise. 

A copy of all these propositions was given to' 
General Baied ; and, in the course of our various 
conversations, we appeared decidedly of opinion 

\ * DISPOSITION OF THE SHIPS FOR INDIA. 

The Cornwallis, Ardacier, Minerva, Miiford, Warren Hast- 
ings, and Gunneh Persaud, to proceed immediately to Bombay, 
as they are expensive vessels, and their services can be dis- 
pensed with in the Red Sea 3 they are recommended to be dis- 
charged from the service, unless wanted by Government in 
some other purpose. 

Eliza, Friendship, Ganges, and Hope, to proceed to Cal- 
cutta, for the same purpose j and arrangements will be made 
to dispense with the service of others, according to circum- 
stances. 

that 



59 

Ui at I should sail for Calcutta, to offer any further 
explanation which your Excellency might require. 
In my own mind, the necessity of such a measure 
was so obvious, that I did not hesitate a moment 
to promise acceding to it provisionally when the 
command devolved upon me. The General's de- 
pendence on this resolution is fully set forth in 
his Letter, No. VI. ; and I shall be happy in pay- 
ing attention to his wishes, whenever your Ex- 
cellency may do me the honour of calling on me. 
General Baird marched for the Nile on the 
30th of June ; and I left Cosier on the 2d of 
July, giving Captain Sause/ of His Majesty's 
ship Sensible, the instructions, No. VII. for the 
disposition of the men of war and transports ; 
and I hope they left that Bay by the l6th, as 
the General assured me he would write to Captain 
Sause to do so the moment there was a moral 
certainty of his reaching Cairo without any serious 
interruption. On my return to Juddah, I found 
Admiral Blanket so unwell, that he could not 
enter minutely into business. I explained every 
thing to. him : he was satisfied with what I had 
done ; and desired me to continue my arrange- 
ments, and make out the necessary instructions 
(No. VIII.) for the Wilhelmina, and he would 
sign them ; to which I added a second order 
(No. IX.) from Mocha, originally inserted, but 
disapproved by him ; as we never did agree on 

i 2 the 



6o 

the time proper for a ship to attempt a passage 
up the Red Sea. 

The Admiral suffered excessively from the heat 
of the weather, and died the 14th inst. the day 
before we reached Mocha : he was buried at sea 
(by his own previous request) with all the honours 
due to his rank. 

I intended to have convoyed the Bengal 
ships, and sent the Sensible to Bombay ; but 
as I found the Leopard was likely to remain at 
Mocha some time, to settle all her accounts ; 
and the Fox ordered to Juddah, where the Bom- 
bay frigate was attending the Rockingham whilst 
she was heaving down, and consequently could 
not finally quit the Red Sea for six weeks or two 
months, I thought it advisable to change the 
disposition, and sail immediately for Calcutta ; by 
which means your Excellency would become 
earlier acquainted with every transaction, and I 
should have the chance of returning to Mocha 
very soon after the departure of the Fox and 
Bombay. The Sensible was then ordered to take 
the Calcutta ships, and the Fox the Bombay ships, 
unless they arrived in time for the Leopard ; and 
in the event of the Fox being detained beyond a 
fixed day, then the Cornwallis was to give them 
the protection of her appearance ; which is all 
I can expect; from the state and establishment of 
that very fine ship. 

I directed 



61 

I directed her Commander and the Commander 
of the Bombay to spare a proportion of their 
eighteen-pounder iron ordnance to mount on the 
lower deck of the Sheerness ; which ship your 
Excellency will see, on reference to Captain Car- 
din's instructions, is ordered to remain in Mocha 
Roads as a guardship, until the return of the 
Romney. 

I wrote to your Excellency, by the Mornington 
Packet, on the subject of my Political Appoint- 
ment, and interference on that head with Me- 
hendy Ally Khawn, at Juddah ; and for the 
reasons assigned in the same Dispatch, I desired 
Mr. Stokes to direct the Company's Broker not 
to answer any Bills drawn by him (Meer Ally 
Khawn) subsequent to the 8th of July, or ad- 
vance any money, except for his personal ex- 
pences. 

I learned, in the course of conversation with 
Mr. Stokes,, that he had chartered several^ dows, 
and was continuing to do so, for the purpose of 
sending to the Army what he conceived neces- 
sary articles of provision, principally rice, wheat, 
sugar, and coffee. These dows would not go to 
the northward of Juddah, where the articles, 
even if they were of any use, tirmt be kept at a 
great expence, or other vessels hired to carry 
them up to Cosier. 

It is to be regretted, that those who have been 
in the habits of intercourse with the Gulf of 

Arabia 



02 

Arabia since the establishment of the Company 
in India, had not possessed some information on 
the resources of that country, whereby the conduct 
of the Executive Departments might have been re- 
gulated, and enormous sums saved in many details 
of this Expedition. However, to check in some de- 
gree, the evil complained of, I desired Mr. Stokes 
to give me a list of the ten dows he had sent on ; 
and I ordered Captain Lind, by Letter, No. IX. 
to put their cargoes into empty transports, and 
send the vessels back again, as soon as possible, 
to be discharged ; and I recommended Mr. 
Stokes. not to purchase any more rice, wheat, or 
sugar, beyond the immediate consumption of 
Mocha, until he received further orders. 

The Army was cloyed with sugar ; so much so, 
that the General offered me for the men of war, 
any portion I chose to accept of, from a large 
quantity already sent from Mocha. 

The ships at Cosier had a great proportion of 
rice, exclusive of the quantity with which many 
of them were provisionally ballasted ; and the 
Bazar was stocked with wheat and flour in such 
abundance, that I di reeled one of the transports, 
taken up at the Cape and discharged since her 
arrival, to be immediately loaded for that settle-r 
ment : the second taken up there, was also to 
be discharged the moment she delivered her 
stores. 

With the magazine of corn jso . immediately 

under 



63 

under our command, I thought it advisable to 
write to the Bombay Government, and recom- 
mend it to stop the shipment of the 10,000 bags 
already demanded by Mr. Stokes. 

Mr. Stokes had built some ovens in the fac- 
tory : on which subject he wrote to me, as you 
will observe by my Letter (P. No. II.) inclosing 
a copy of one I sent to Mr. Peingle. The 
ovens there, and the sort of bread of which I had 
a muster, might do for present expence ; but the 
place, my Lord, for a bakery, is Cosier, the 
granary of Egypt, and the depot from whence 
all Arabia is supplied. There a few regular 
bred Bakers, a few thousand bricks, and some 
Masons, might be of essential service, and pro- 
duce biscuit as cheap as at Calcutta, and thereby 
save the freight to the Red Sea. Other expe- 
dients might be devised for applying the re- 
sources of Egypt to our benefit ; but I shah re- 
serve myself on those several subjects until I have 
the pleasure of seeing your Excellency in Cal- 
cutta, where, I trust, you will do me the honour 
of applying to me, in proportion as you con- 
ceive any benefit may arise from the Remarks 
I have made during my short stay in the Red 
Sea. 

Your Excellency will have the goodness to no- 
tice, that this is the first letter I have addressed to 
you from personal observation : to which any pa- 
ragraphs 



64 

ragraphs in my former letters materially differing, 
must certainly yield. 

Although I desired Mr. Stokes not to charter 
or send up any more vessels laden with rice and 
wheat, yet I advised him to hold a survey on the 
provisions of all the ships expected from India* 
to re-bake the damaged bread, which I had reason 
to expect would be very great, from what I saw 
in the Bengal ships at Cosier ; and to load the one 
reported the fastest sailer, with beef, pork, bis- 
cuit, and spirits, and send her to Suez as early aa 
the season would admit. 

As a variety of circumstances may have arisen 
since the last communications of your Excellency 
to the Red Sea, on which all future operations 
may depend, though regulated in some respects 
by the latest information from Egypt, I shall only 
be taking up your Excellency's time, in offering 
any thing about that country, in its relation to 
Europe and India, until I am competent to do so 
from a knowledge of the different points applica- 
ble to the subject, and which must form the basis 
of a thorough discussion. 

It is nevertheless right, in any case, to adopt 
some measure for recruiting the ships left in Co- 
sier and Juddah with Lascars, or it will be impos- 
sible for them to quit the Red Sea in safety, as 
they were originally but indifferently manned, and 
their ships' companies have been very much re- 
duced 



65 
duced by sickness, probably brought on from ex- 
traordinary fatigue in doing duty on shore as Coo- 
lies, — besides the loss of many who have accom- 
panied the army as Dooly Bearers. The owners 
must also provide stores for their ships, according 
to the different demands which will be brought 
forward by Mr. Lowe, on the arrival of the Cuvera 
in Calcutta. 

I have omitted in my different Letters to inform 
your Excellency, that I judged it expedient, on my 
arrival in the Red Sea, to take all the ships belong- 
ing to and chartered by the Company under ir.y 
command, without suffering any interference what- 
ever, except through me : I did this because I saw 
a strange and very undisciplined usage had obtain- 
ed, of placing ships under the orders of different 
Officers, to the manifest prejudice of the public 
service ; and in the most friendly discussion with 
Genera! Baird on the subject, I persisted in my 
principles, supporting them with a positive assur- 
ance, that any ship moving without my sanction, 
must expect to be sunk ; and I cannot doubt, but 
from the high and very proper notions he has of 
the service, he agreed with me in opinion, how- 
ever reluctant he might appear to yield in toto to 
the position. 

I trust that your Excellency will see the pro- 
priety of making Commanding Officers absolute, if 
they were even not inclined to be so ; for the mo- 

k ment 



66 

jnent the executive power is divided, different in- 
terests are pursued, and responsibility, which is the 
very soul of energy and zeal, is so lessened, that 
apathy supersedes ambition, and every plan is ren- 
dered abortive, from reversing that system by 
which Great Britain has so long maintained its 
superiority in all combined operations and insular 
attacks. 

Although, my Lord, I have on this head express- 
ed myself in strong terms, from a sense of duty to 
my country, I hope your Excellency will be fully 
persuaded that no man has more sincerely at heart 
the comfort of the Army, or shall study to meet a 
General's wishes with more alacrity than myself; 
and I trust my conduct in the course of the war, in 
some diffic; 11 '. nnd trying cases, will be a voucher to 
this effect ; &nd the argument consequently has no 
other view, but to direct every thing through the 
proper channel ; which, in my opinion, is the only 
mode of really and essentially serving the country, 
and carrying the request of the Commander in 
Chief into immediate and prompt execution. 

I have now to beg that your Excellency will not 
consider one iota of this Letter, which is written 
without reserve, as dictating in any degree to the 
supreme government. On the contrary, it is but 
the opinion of a zealous Officer, submitted to your 
"Excellency, and who will be happy on all occa- 
sions to prove himself worthy of your protection, 

and 



67 

and testify the deference and respect with which he 
has the honour of being, . 

My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient 

and most devoted humb 1 Servant, 
Red Sea, May 12 to (Signed) Home Popham. 
July 20, 1803. 

It may be considered as too prolix to subjoin all 
the papers alluded to ; but as this makes an instan- 
taneous alteration to the interest of the Company, 
it is noticed in concise terms, without entering into 
a general review of the Transport Tonnage. 



POLITICAL. No. I. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
QUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND 
CAPTAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE 
BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN INDIA, 
&C. &C. &C. 

Opportunities so seldom offer to allow of my 
writing to your Excellency on each subject as it 
occurs, that I deem a concise journal to be the best 
mode of offering you the course of my proceedings 
on this subject. 

My anxiety to join General Baird with every 
practical dispatch, forced me to leave Mocha so 
suddenly, that I had no time to write, or have any 
intercourse with the Imaum of Sennah ; but as the 
service appeared to be carried on^ in respect to sup- 
k 2 plies 



6s 
plies and assistance from the natives, with some 
degree of system, though without much alacrity, 
I had no particular regret at quitting the road on 
more material duty 5 and leave the subject of refe- 
rence to a moment of less urgency than the present. 

Previous to my arrival at Juddah I was acquaint-, 
ed with the Sheriffe of Mecca's conduct in regard 
to the Porte, his connection with the French, and 
his decided antipathy to the English. I learned 
from General Baird, that although the Transports 
were watering and provisioning, still there was 
something very equivocal in his behaviour ; and 
this was equally observed by Mirza Mehendy 
Ally Khawn ; who I understood to be in the si- 
tuation of Political Native Resident, specially ap- 
pointed by the Bombay Government, with the su- 
perintendance of the dows bringing cattle from 
Bombay, and such purchases of camels and horses 
as General Baird might think proper to order. 

I lost no time in addressing a Note to the She- 
riffe, by Mehendy Ally Khawn, asking the ho- 
nour of an audience, which his Holiness granted. 
The result of this interview 7 , and my ideas respect- 
ing the Sheriffe, will be fully explained to your 
Excellency in my Letter to Lord Elgin on that 
subject ; and I declare, not to have written from 
prejudice, but from the consideration of every thing 
I had heard and seen of this man's principles and 
conduct since the first invasion of Egypt. 

Cosier, 30th June. — A few days after I had closed 

Lord 



69 

Lord Elgin's Letter, General Baird received 
No. III.* from Mehendy Ally Khawn, a dupli- 
cate of which also came to me ; and in my conver- 
sation with the General on this very extraordinary 
subject, I persisted, if possible, on the propriety of 
a reference to your Excellency before the adoption 
of any strong measure, unless the life of the Com- 
pany's Resident was absolutely at stake, and that 
means were taken to cut off the necessary supplies 
for the Army, which, in fact, would have amount- 
ed to a direct act of hostility on the part of the 
Sheriffe. 

As I was on the eve of quitting Cosier, I request- 
ed the General to write me his sentiments on the 
subject, that I might have the advantage of his opi- 
nion in a case where the interests of the Company 
and the views of Great Britain, in its relation and 
alliance with the Ottoman Porte, were so intimately 
blended. 

I am highly flattered in the confidence placed in 
me by the General, in his Letter, No. IV., and I 
trust to your Excellency's approbation of my con- 
duct, so far as I have related it, that I may antici- 

* This Letter, No. III., complained of the conduct of the 
Jaddah Government to him ; and proposed to depose the present 
SherirFe, who was an usurper, and place the right heir on the 
throne; and Mehendy represented he had obtained his con- 
currence to this project. — Various reasons, however, decided 
that I should not interfere in this proposition, but remove Me- 
hendy Ally Khavvn from Arabia, with every possible dis- 
patch. 

pate 



70 

pate your future protection in the situation which 
Mr. Dundas directed me to be appointed to, by 
the Secret Committee. 

Juddah, 7th July. — On my passage to this place, 
I had sufficient leisure to consider of, and I assure 
you I gave all my attention to, Mehendy Ally 
Khawn's Letter ; and I am not without my sus- 
picions that the greater part is a fiction, to facilitate 
the operation of some intrigue, calculated only to 
benefit the Nabob and his partizans, and ultimately 
involve the Company in all the consequences from 
which their advantages may be derived. 

I question the possibility of obtaining sufficient 
intercourse with Afd a.llah, the deposed Sheriffe, 
and the Beniharb Shaik, to carry on the great spe- 
culation of an absolute deposition, without creating 
strong suspicion on the part of the existing Go- 
vernment ; and I also doubt, that any person so 
high in the Sheriffe's confidence as to have access 
to such Letters of secrecy as those must be that 
propose poisoning the Nabob, would venture, at 
the time of his disgrace, to convey any intelligence 
to him, personally or otherwise. If, however, I am 
mistaken in both these points, I cannot but accuse 
the Nabob of a want of caution in managing a bu- 
siness so delicate in itself, and so highly important, 
as the one he offers for consideration. His propo- 
sitions appear to have gone through many copies, 
probably some editions, when, in my mind, to per- 
sons only, not to paper, communications of this 

nature 



tt 

nature ought to be made ; and if ever the expedi- 
ency of the proposed measure should be determined 
on, I hope your Excellency, however you may ap- 
preciate the assistance of the Nabob, v/ill not suffer 
him to be the principal in carrying such views into 
effect. 

In this subject many considerations are involved, 
some probably of too great magnitude and too in- 
tricate policy for me to discuss ; and I feel less 
equal to it just now, as not having been honoured 
with any communication from your Excellency, or 
the Presidencies in India, since my arrival in the 
Red Sea ; but as I propose, if I am not prevented 
by any extraordinary circumstance, to proceed to 
Calcutta for provisions and stores, instead of Bom- 
bay, I shall have the honour of stating personally 
to your Excellency, in a detailed and unreserved 
manner, not only the situation of the Army, but 
the probable advantages and disadvantages of its 
further co-operation with General Hutchinson, 
and every idea that has suggested itself to me on 
the policy and expediency of reducing the SherifFe, 
and subjugating and concentrating every govern- 
ment in the Red Sea under its former authority, 
the Porte. 

When I was off the shoals of Juddah, I received 
a note from Admiral Blankett, desiring me to 
anchor in the outer Gatway ; and signifying his 
intention of proceeding to Mocha the following 
morning, where he was anxious to give me up the 

Command 



72 

Command of this station. I requested he would 
either leave me at Juddah, or remain one day, as I 
had some business of importance in my political 
situation, to settle for the Company. He acceded 
to the latter ; and I lost no time in sending for 
Mehendy Ally Khawn to come on board the 
Romney, and personally inform me of his situa- 
tion in regard to the Government, and his motives 
for remaining, after General Baird had directed 
him to dispose of the camels he had already pur- 
chased, and not to purchase any more cattle for the 
Army. 

I received the Letter, No. V. the morning after 
my Message was delivered ; and the ambiguity of 
the style gave me no plea for altering my first opi- 
nion ; I therefore determined to send to the Vizier, 
to ask his reasons for keeping centinels at the door 
of the English Resident ; to know, Whether he 
had any charges to prefer against him for violating 
the laws and customs of Juddah ? and, Why he 
objected to his coming to me ? I also told the 
Vizier, If the dispute was of a commercial nature, 
and that it appeared the Nabob owed any such 
sum to the Sheriffe, on account of the Company, 
I was ready to discharge it, if it did not exceed the 
means with which I was provided ; and I conceived 
tile best mode to adjust every point in an amicable 
manner was, for the Vizier to accompany the 
Nabob on board the Romney ; and if he was not 
satisfied with my arbitration, I gave him my ho- 
nour 



73 

nour I would send the Nabob on shore again. The 
Vizier agreed to this proposition, excusing himself 
on account of ill health ; bu< sending his brother to 
act for him. 

From the observations I had made, I was satis- 
fied of the propriety of settling, in a friendly man- 
ner, all the differences between the Nabob and the 
Vizier ; and, if possible, to remove the former from 
Juddah, without giving him the least suspicion of 
my motives for doing so; and whatever your Ex- 
cellency's future conduct may be towards the Court 
of Juddah, I trust to your approbation of mine in 
this instance and at this moment. 

My interview with these people, after some trifl- 
ing altercations, terminated in satisfying the Vi- 
zier's demand, by paying a note of hand for 9,250 
dollars from Mehendy Ally Khawn to the She- 
riffe. The Vizier's brother promised that all his 
things should be delivered up on my sending an 
Officer on shore ; and after recommending an ami~ 
cable parting, 1 sent the Nabob on board the 
Warren Hastings (a ship chartered by the Bombay 
Presidency for his accommodation) and begged he 
would remain there until I called on him in the 
evening ; which I did, for the purpose of knowing 
what further views he had by staying at Juddah, — - 
what dows he had under his direction, — and what 
other expences it was possible to relieve the Com* 
pany of, 

i I learned s 



74 

I learned, on seeing him, that he had several 
dows here with bullocks, which were dying very 
fast ; and the Noceadahs of the dows refused to go 
further to the northward : their expence was from 
ten to twelve thousand rupees a month *, and 
the Warren Hastings upwards of seven thousand. 
I took upon me to order all the dows immedi- 
ately to be discharged ; and as Mocha was the 
place agreed on for that purpose, to deliver up 
their bullocks to Mr. Stokes, for the use of the 
Army. 

My next point was, to remove Mehendy Ally 
Khawn from Juddah, to prevent the effect of any 
further intercourse with that Government, and to 
relieve, as soon as possible, the Company from the 
expence of the Warren Hastings ; and I was very 
sorry to find he shewed some reluctance to quit 
that place, in which, a few hours before, he had 
positively asked my protection to save his life. He 
told me he was anxious to wait the answer of a 
Letter to General Baird, which he bad sent a few 
days before my arrival. I explained to him the 
impossibility of its reaching Juddah in less than 
two, probably three months ; before which time his 
services might be required in other quarters ; and 
at all events, I thought he w T ould do right to make 

* By a subsequent statement, it appears that the expence of 
the dows was from 20 to 25,000 rupees a month. 

the 



7o 



the best of his way to Calcutta or Bombay, and 
render an account of his Mission : if he chose the 
former place, I would give him a passage in the 
Romney ; and he might immediately discharge the 
Warren Hastings. He then talked of a fortnight; 
which time even I explained to him might deprive 
me of the pleasure of seeing him at Mocha, where 
X- might have occasion for his assistance. He pro- 
mised to quit Juddah in a week ; and on this I 
took my leave, giving him to understand, in the 
most delicate manner, that if he went on shore 
again, it must be at his own private risk, as there 
could be no further public interference in his be- 
half. 

I hope your Excellency will excuse my entering 
so minutely into the latter part of my transactions, 
as I could not altogether divest myself of the im- 
pression that there was an unnecessary alarm and 
ill-managed intrigue, or an improper representation 
on the part of Mehendy Ally Khawn ; either 
of which might, in the course of time, mislead the 
Company, or embarrass the Commanding Officer 
in forming a judgment which was the proper line 
to pursue. In the whole of this transaction, I can 
assure your Excellency, I have acted with every 
delicacy to the Nabob, from the report that he had 
been of much service to the Bombay Government 
in his Secret Missions from that Presidencv ; and 
I dare venture to affirm, he considers my anxiety 

l 2 to 



76 

to remove him, as originating from personal re- 
gard, and not from public duty. 
I have the honour to be, 

My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient and 

most devoted humble Servant, 
Romney, at Sea, (signed) Home Popham. 

proceeding towards Juddah, May 1], 1801. 

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF ELGIN, 

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S AMBASSADOR EX* 

TRAORDINARY AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Romney, Cosier Bay, June 2,6, 1801. 
MY LORD, 

I have no doubt but your Lordship is already 
apprized of my being sent to this country with a 
military force from Europe, to act in conjunction 
with that from India, in a general co-operation 
with the Mediterranean Army, for the expulsion 
of the French from Egypt. My passage from the 
Cape was very dilatory ; but I had the satisfaction 
of overtaking General Baird, and bringing him to 
this place ; from whence he is moving, in small 
detachments, to Ghenne, to proceed down the Nile, 
and join General Hutchinson ; but under such 
difficulties and obstacles, as would almost make 
any man but himself, and even him in a case less 
urgent, shudder at the very perilous prospect in 
crossing the Desart, and resist the most absolute 

orders 



77 
orders to undertake the march; but he sees the ne- 
cessity of his junction with General Hutchinson 
in so stron it a point of view, that he has determined 
to risk every thing in the attempt; in which I 
have rendered him my humble assistance since 
Admiral Blankett quitted Cosier, on his way 
down the Red Sea, and ultimately to Europe; but 
probably first to India. I have thought it neces- 
sary to say thus much before I come to the more 
direct object of my Correspondence with your 
Lordship, which originates in a Political Appoint- 
ment to the Sheriffe of Mecca, and all the Arabian 
Princes, that I received from the Secret Committee 
of the India Company, by order of Mr. Secretary 
Dundas, previous to my quitting England. 

From the general character of the Sheriffe, who, 
I suppose, you know is an usurper, and the right 
heir a prisoner, I had little to expect in any inter- 
course with him, especially while the French pro- 
mised to remain masters of Egypt ; but the success 
of General Abercrombie held out, I thought, a 
favourable moment to write and ask an interview. 
My Note is more directed to give him an opening 
of recantation in his principles towards the Grand 
Seignior than any other point ; which being gained, 
would pave the way to all I am instructed to re- 
quire. 

He, however, was not satisfied that the French 
would be driven from Egypt ; and he gave such 
evasive answers to all I proposed, that I was con- 
vinced 



78 
vlnced he only wanted to gain time, and not risk 
any conclusion until he saw the event of this cam- 
paign, He asked me, If the Grand Seignior 
had given his sanction to my appointment, and knew 
the nature of my instructions? I could only answer, 
That, from the intimacy of the connection betweeu 
the Grand Seignior and his Majesty, I had no doubt 
hut his Ministers acquainted those of his Imperial 
Majesty with every circumstance that had reference 
to any part of his dominions. He said, That was not 
a direct answer; and that he must now ask me, If I 
ever saw any Letters from the Grand Seignior au- 
thorizing me to come to Juddah, to propose terms 
of negociation to him ? As I could not answer this 
question to my own satisfaction, I was obliged to 
ask, If he would implicitly attend to any negocia- 
tion made by your Lordship at Constantinople, on 
the basis of my instructions, which could easily be 
conveyed to you ? He said, Certainly, it was his 
duty; and he must obey any orders from the 
Grand Seignior, as well as abide by any agreement 
made between him and the English. 

I transmit to your Lordship some extracts from 
my instructions ; and I hope you will either be able 
to obtain a firmaun to the SherifFe to enter into 
such negociations with me, and to admit, as was 
the case for many years, a Factory House to be 
established at Juddah ; or, if your Lordship could 
enter into a direct Negociation at Constantinople, 
it would be still better, particularly for the Porte : 

in 



79 

in the event of which, however, I have my doubt 
of the SherifFe's conformation. It will be neces- 
sary to assert the right of sovereignty in the Grand 
Seignior; which he will never do while there is a 
barrier between him and any executive force be- 
longing to the Porte. 

The conduct of this man has been avowedly ini- 
mical to the general cause, and pointedly so to 
every English interest: and I really think, if a pro- 
visional application could be made from the Porte 
to Lord Wellesley to remove this usurper, and 
place the proper heir upon the throne, whilst we 
have such a force in the Red Sea, — instead of its 
being an unpopular act, as interfering with the head 
of the Mahometan religion, it would give great and 
general satisfaction, as he is universally detested, 
from his tyrannical and rapacious conduct. 

I shall be very happy to hear from your Lordship 
on this subject as early as possible ; and I congra- 
tulate myself on the occasion which my present 
Mission has afforded me, of paying my compli- 
ments to your Lordship, and assuring you of the 
deference and respect with which I have the honour 
of being, 

My Lord, 
your Lordship's most obedient 

and very humble Servant, 
(signed) Home Poi'ham* 



Aft 



et 



80 

After a passage of seventeen days from the Red 
Sea, the Romney arrived in Balasore Roads ; and 
in proceeding up the river, I received the annexed 
from Lord Wellesley. 

No. I. 

TO SIR HOME P0PHAM, K. M. &C &C. &c. 

Fort William, Aug. II, 1801. 
Half past Four, P.M. 

SIR, 

I have received your several Dispatches, for- 
warded with your Letter of the 9th inst. and I take 
the earliest opportunity of expressing my warmest 
acknowledgements for your various, able, and com- 
prehensive communications. Your arrival at this 
port affords me the highest satisfaction, and cannot 
fail to promote the public service. You will find 
me zealously disposed to employ every effort for 
the accomplishment of the great object now in 
contemplation, and ready to receive your advice 
and assistance with the utmost degree of gratitude 
and cordiality. 1 have issued all the orders which 
you have suggested, with a view to facilitate the 
arrival of the Romney at Mayapour, and her re- 
pairs in this port. 

I shall hope to have the pleasure of seeing you 
immediately after your landing. Mr. Louis, the 
Naval Agent, informs me that he has provided a 
house for you, otherwise I would have taken that 
duty upon myself; and if you should not find your- 
self 



81 

self conveniently lodged, I hope you will allow mc 
to remedy that inconvenience. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 

with great esteem and respect, 

your faithful Servant, 
(signed) Wellesley. 

I lost no time in obeying so flattering a sum- 
mons, and had the good fortune to reach Calcutta 
before his Excellency set off for Oude ; but he 
being then on the eve of his departure, he re- 
quested me to accompany him, as he was very 
anxious to discuss many points relating to Egypt, 
the Red Sea, and other objects of equal conse- 
quence. 

I took the liberty, before my return to Calcutta, 
of delivering several papers to Lord Wellesley, 
on different subjects, though it may be necessary 
only to notice the following : — 

MEMORANDUM FOR LORD WELLESLEY's CONSI- 
DERATION. 

Off Chensurah, Jug. 20, 1801. 
The political situation of Arabia in regard to the 
Porte, Great Britain, and India, requires Lord 
Wellesley's serious consideration ; and as the 
presence of so great a Military and Naval Force 
will very sensibly operate on the minds of the dif- 
ferent Chiefs, and probably induce them to accede 

M to 



82 

to Lord Wlllesley's wishes, he may conceive 
this the most favourable moment to carry all his 
views into effect. The Secret Committee, in the 
instructions which they gave me on this head, seem 
anxious to enter into some system of permanent 
commercial negotiation with the Imaum of Sennah 
and the SherifFe of Mecca, as promising vast 
advantages to the Company. In regard to the 
Imaum ot Sennah, I apprehend no difficulty. On 
the contrary, if he is wise, he ought to court the 
most intimate connection with the Company, and 
even intreat them to keep up a small Military 
Establishment, as the most certain means of check- 
ing the incursions of the Bedouins, who are daily 
threatening Mocha. 

The Bedouins may however be of such service 
to us, that their Chiefs ought to be courted, and 
managed by courtesy instead of force. 

In regard to the Commercial Intercourse be- 
tween India and Sennah, I am satisfied the whole 
exports of that country might be made subservient 
to the Company, and the trade in general brought 
under their controul ; which, in fact, though 
without the appearance, would be making a mono- 
poly of some very valuable branches of Commerce 
and Revenue ; and one, which the luxury of the 
times has made a necessary article of existence in 
Northern Europe, particularly in France, where, I 
believe, the preference to Mocha Coffee has more 



generally 



83 
generally obtained than in the lower parts of Ger- 
many. It however may, by proper management, 
be vested in the Company ; and whether the coffee 
emporium is in London, or in the Company's 
godowns at Mocha, is a question of no moment 
for the present, though it may be on a future day. 

The extraordinary occurrences of the war have 
made it necessary to increase the British tonnage 
to a degree of unexampled extent ; it therefore is 
an act of wisdom in all Governments, in their mo- 
ments of relaxation from the operations of war, to 
turn their thoughts to the probable events of Peace, 
and to cherish and encourage every source that 
promises the most distant employment for ships on 
such an event taking place. 

Having stated my opinion on the expediency of 
an intimate connection with the Coffee country, as 
promising an absolute monopoly of that valuable 
commerce, I take the liberty, in the same unre- 
served manner, to submit to Lord Wellesley the 
mode of carrying this suggestion into effect. There 
may however be objections to the whole proposi- 
tion, though I doubt their existing, as Mr. Scott, 
the present Chairman (and on my quitting Eng- 
land, one of the Secret Committee) most parti- 
cularly urged this point ; and I understand, no 
person formerly was better acquainted with the 
Red Sea than himself, or profited more from the 
result of his frequent intercourse. 

A Commercial Resident should be fixed on, of 
M 2 probity, 



84 
probity, ability, and resource, with one or two As- 
sistants of equal competency, and such articles of 
Indian manufacture as seem best calculated for the 
markets, should be consigned annually, and powers 
vested to contract with the Coffee Planters ; and 
to attend the great fair for. coffee, and other pro- 
ductions of Arabia, at Bet il Fakeih, held, I think, 
twice a year. The extent to which this commerce 
may be likely to be carried, ought to be kept a 
profound secret; and a knowledge of it only become 
public in proportion to its increased operations. 
At present, the Company have a Native Banyan, 
who has for many years transacted their business ; 
and the advantages he has thereby derived has, by 
report, given him the credit of possessing twenty 
lacks of dollars. 

Independent of a liberal salary, some considera- 
tion Ought to be promised on the profit of the com- 
mercial transactions, to the Resident, in lieu of a 
commission on the gross expenditure; and I rather 
think a small duty might be imposed on the ships 
trading to the Red Sea, to defray the expence of 
this establishment. 

The effect of French intrigue, particularly on 
the Sheriffe of Mecca, shows the wisdom of having 
Residents in that country, if not to check, at least 
to give information of the progress of the enemy 
on all its future negociations, whether of a public 
or secret nature. 

I cannot altogether bring myself to decide the 

question 



85 

question about the Sheriffe of Mecca ; yet I am 
fully persuaded, he will never be brought to any 
sincere negociation with us, not so much from his 
affection to the French as our intimate alliance 
with the Porte, from whose yoke he wants to be 
completely emancipated ; but this must, I think, 
be firmly resisted, not only in respect to the sub- 
sisting connection with the Grand Seignior, but 
our own immediate interest, which must suffer 
from the arrogation of extraordinary power by any 
Resident Individual in Arabia. A reference to my 
Public Letters will more fully explain every circum- 
stance relative to the Court of Mecca. Cosier is 
fortunately the port for supply of grain to Arabia, 
consequently that country may be starved by one 
of the insignificant cruisers of the Bombay establish- 
ment ; and the Sheriffe of Mecca should be given 
to understand this in the most unequivocal manner. 
Two ships of easy draft of water, mounting 
each twenty twenty-four pounders, battering guns, 
and one mortar, should be built exclusively for 
the Red Sea service ; which, as commanding the 
destruction of the towns, would keep the whole 
country in a state of subjection ; and instructions 
of a particular nature should be given the Officers 
commanding them ; which I can hereafter submit 
to Lord Wellesley's consideration. It would 
be an advantage if the Officers in the ships were 
acquainted with Marine Surveying; and I see no 

objection, 



80 
objection, when these ships quit Bombay or return, 
to their being alternately loaded with the produc- 
tions of each place, which would, in some degree, 
lessen the expence of their establishment. 

I cannot say any thing at present on the pro- 
priety of a Commercial Resident being stationed 
at Suez, or whether it would be allowed ; but a 
question arises in my mind, on the Policy of en- 
couraging the Exportations of India to the Red 
Sea, beyond the consumption of Egypt and Arabia, 
though I am convinced it would be wise to con- 
centrate all the productions of these two last coun- 
tries in our magazines at Mocha. 

After I have been at Suez, I shall be enabled to 
speak more decidedly as to these points; and I 
will certainly omit no occasion of communicating 
to Lord Wellesley the result of my observa- 
tions on every subject that may appear interesting 
to his Excellency, and tend to promote the welfare 
of the Company. 

(Signed) Home Popham. 

His Excellency had proposed an expedition (as 
a coup de main) hy the troops which were to be 
embarked for the Red Sea, on their voyage there, 
and had been pleased to give me the direction of 
it, and the arrangement of every thing relating to 
the transports and supplies for the Army in Egypt. 
The expedition, for reasons assigned in his Excel- 
lency's 



87 
lency's Letter, No. II. was suspended; and of 
course all my attention was directed to the other 
objects which were placed under my controul. 

TO SIR HOME POPHAM, K. M. 

Sec. &c. &c. 

Berhampore, Sept. 1, 180L 
SIR, 

The Dispatches which I have received from 
Egypt since your departure, combined with the 
most recent advices from Fort St. George, have 
induced me to determine to recal my orders, for 
equipping an additional armament from India in 
the present moment : I have therefore dispatched a 
Letter to the Vice President in Council to that ef- 
fect ; and I take the earliest opportunity of inform- 
ing you, that our preparations from India must 
now be limited to the provision of such articles of 
supply as may be required for the Army in Egypt. 
I cannot however relinquish the armament which 
I had proposed to equip under your directions and 
with your assistance, without assuring you of the 
high sense which I retain of the zeal, talents, and 
knowledge which you manifested in the communi- 
cations which have passed between us, and of the 
confidence which I should have reposed in the suc- 
cess of any operation conducted by an Officer of 
such acknowledged enterprize and skill. I shall 
take an early occasion to record these sentiments 
for the information of the Court of Directors, and 

to 



88 

to submit them to his Majesty's Ministers, with 
whom I correspond officially on all subjects of Mi- 
litary Detail. 

By Mr. Udny I shall communicate to you a fur- 
ther view of the state of supplies dispatched, or 
under dispatch, from Fort St, George; and I shall 
request you to favour me with your opinion on the 
whole question of supplies for Egypt. In the mean 
time, the Vice President in Council has received 
my instructions to forward the preparation of such 
articles as you may require. 

I shall also solicit the advantage of your senti- 
ments with respect to a system of general rules for 
the improvement of future embarkations of men or 
stores from India. 

With respect to your Political Mission to the 
Arab States, I shall immediately transmit a Letter 
to you through the Political Department. I have 
directed the necessary orders to be sent to Fort 
William, for providing you with tents and equipage 
for your journey from Mocha to Sennah. 

Under all the circumstances of the present crisis, 
it appears to me, that your most adviseable course 
would be to return to the Red Sea as soon as the 
season will admit. I shall hereafter enter fully into 
the subject of all the Memoranda which I have 
had the honour to receive from you. 

Notwithstanding that the result of your pro- 
ceeding to this port does not now appear likely to be 
precisely answerable to your expectations of active 

service 



89 
service, or to my wish of availing myself of your 
exertions against Batavia, I must repeat my most 
sincere thanks to you, for having, with so much 
promptitude, taken a measure which has enabled me 
to obtain a more accurate view of the state of our 
Army in Egypt, as well as of the affairs of Arabia., 
than I could possibly have acquired in any other 
mode. You may be assured, that I shall offer to 
you the tribute of my public acknowledgment of 
the judgment, alacrity, and zeal for the service 
which dictated a proceeding, not only expedient 
under any circumstances, but highly proper and 
prudent in the crisis which existed at the time of 
your departure from the Red Sea. 
I have the honour to be. 

with great respect and esteem, 
Sir, 
your most faithful Servant, 

(Signed) Wellesley, 

EXTRACT FROM MAJOR MALCOLM, PRIVATE SECRE- 
TARY TO LORD WELLESLEY. 

Buxar,No<n, 8, ISOl. 

The steps you have taken to remedy the abuses 
in the departments that are entrusted with the 
supply of provisions, meet his Excellency's fullest 
approbation, who feels himself obliged to you for 
the very proper attention you have given to that 
subject, which, it is his Excellency's opinion, can- 
not be too fully investigated. He begs you will 

n rest 



90 

rest assured of his fullest support in every endea- 
vour you make to improve the mode of furnishing 
supplies, or of fitting out the present or future 
equipments from the port of Calcutta. It occur- 
red to his Excellency, that you had reduced the 
tonnage too much ; but this defect will be easily 
remedied ; and he leaves all arrangements on this 
head;, with confidence, to you and Mr. Barlow. 



Soon after I received this Letter from Major 
Malcolm, I went down the river to join the Rom- 
ney, with a view of sailing for the Red Sea, as I 
had completed all the necessary arrangements in 
this port. I had scarcely, however, reached the 
ship, when an express from the Vice President in 
Council called me back, in consequence of a dis- 
patch from England ; on which it was strongly pre- 
sumed theFrench had sent an expedition to Macao. 

The following Letters will, I hope, explain, in a 
satisfactory manner, my conduct on this occasion. 



TO THE HON. G. H. BARLOW, ESQ. VICE PRESIDENT 
IN COUNCIL, &C. &C &C 

FORT WILLIAM. 

Romney, Nov* 14, 1801. 
HONOURABLE SIR, 

I lose not a moment to acknowledge the receipt 
of your Dispatches, by express of the 12th inst. 
on the subject of the intelligence from Europe, re- 
lative 



91 

Jative to the state of Portugal, and the designs of 
France on the foreign possessions of that power. 

On an occasion of so much importance to the 
public service, I do not hesitate to relinquish my 
intention of proceeding to sea without returning to 
Calcutta ; and you may expect to see me very 
shortly after this Letter shall have been delivered 
to you. Every suggestion which I can offer, and 
every aid which the most zealous co-operation on 
my part can afford to the measures of this Govern- 
ment, for the purpose of defeating the projects of 
the enemy, you may rely upon receiving; and 
though I hope to have the honour of personal com- 
munication with you so very soon, I shall now for. 
ward such observations as occur to me by express, 
that you may be enabled the more speedily to sub- 
mit them, with the advantages of your own com- 
ments, to the consideration of his Excellency the 
Governor General. 

The first object for your attention, in my judg- 
ment, is Macao; and that his Majesty's Ministers 
deemed the exclusion of the French from that 
settlement to be of the utmost consequence is evi- 
dent, I think, from the specific order to Admiral 
Rainier, to detach two line of battle ships to it as 
soon as possible, from the small squadron now 
under his command. 

In the month of September I had the honour of 
suggesting to Lord Wsllesley the expediency of 
holding a force in readiness, to be dispatched at 

n % the 



9*2 

the shortest notice, for the support of Macao, in 
case such a measure should become advisable. 
This I did, under a conviction that the then state 
of Portugal would inevitably subject her to the ty- 
ranny of France; and that the hope of striking a 
severe blow at the Company's trade with China, and 
all the National interests connected with it, would 
induce the enemy to make that place the chief 
object of his views in this quarter of the globe. 
The force which I alluded to might, I hoped, be 
sent from Prince of Wales's Island and Malacca, 
and afterwards be replaced by drafts from the Ma- 
rine Corps. Whether his Excellency issued any 
orders on the subject I have not yet heard ; nor 
am I sufficiently acquainted with the details, to 
judge whether that particular mode of providing a 
force for service at Macao is the most eligible. 

But whether troops shall be sent from this coun- 
try direct to Macao, or to the places I have speci- 
fied, for the purpose above alluded to, it will, I 
think, be advisable to employ the Dover Castle and 
the Asia in transporting them. They appear to me 
to be the fittest vessels for that service ; and if the 
convicts now embarked on board of them for Am- 
boyna shall be relanded, and an adequate compen- 
sation given to their Commanders, for the loss they 
may sustain by the provision of such articles of 
private trade as they were permitted by Govern- 
ment to supply, I see no objection to their being 
so employed. 

In 



Q3 

In the event of this suggestion being adopted, a 
Packet should be forthwith dispatched to Prince of 
Wales's Island, with orders to hold the garrison 
there ready for embarkation, at least to the amount 
of five hundred men ; and as they have been in 
the habits of living with the Chinese and Malays 
for some time, they appear to me to be the fittest 
troops for this service. 

The Dover Castle and Asia, if thus employed, 
ought to sail as soon as possible, with instructions 
to go through the Streights of Macassar ; and on 
an occasion of such extraordinary importance, a 
convoy should go with them, if possible, with the 
double view of protecting them, and accelerating 
their passage. 

If the Sensible was ready for sea, I should not 
hesitate to order her for this duty ; and were I in 
possession of the Governor General's ultimate 
views, in regard to the Egyptian Army, I might 
find myself at liberty, by them, probably to pro- 
pose, under present circumstances, that the Rom- 
ney should convoy the Indiamen through the 
Streights of Macassar ; and either go in her myself, 
or send Captain Sause with the command, and 
proceed to the Malabar Coast and Red Sea in the 
Sensible. This would certainly put me to the 
greatest personal inconvenience ; but I view the 
absolute necessity for a convoy to these ships in so 
strong a light, that I should not for one moment 

hesitate 



y£ 

hesitate 'to sacrifice every personal consideration to 
the good of the public service. 

The enemy must be aware, that the principal 
trade we at present enjoy in India, is that with 
China ; and he must consequently conclude, that 
Government will adopt every practicable measure 
to frustrate his projects against Macao ; and that 
on the first communication from England, a de- 
tachment of troops will be sent to that place from 
Bengal, in any ships that might be ready for sea ; 
and if France has succeeded in any direct commu- 
nication with the Manillas, she will have naturally 
suggested the expediency of sending out two fri- 
gates to cruise to the northward of the Streights of 
Macassar, to intercept this force from India, espe- 
cially as I do not apprehend any expedition will be 
ready or willing to sail from Manilla to Macao until 
the end of February. 

Provided the ships are completed and ready to 
sail without a moment's lapse of time, the Romney 
might convoy them to the Streights of Macassar, 
and be at Mocha by the 10th of February. 

If Lord Wellesley means to withdraw the 
Egyptian Army from any foreign service, or em- 
ploy them on an expedition when they are recalled 
from Egypt, notice, in either case, may be given 
by a dispatch to General Bated ; and as all the 
transports in the Red Sea are at Suez, the x\rmy 
might be embarked there, and brought down to 

Mocha. 



9$ 

Mocha, where they might arrive by the middle of 
March. I do not think they could, under any cir- 
cumstance, reach that place at an earlier period, 
consequently the Romney would be iti time to co- 
operate with them in any offensive operations. 
Whether she may be wanted in the interim for of- 
fensive service, under the information contained in 
Dr. Christie's Letter from Muscat, I cannot de- 
termine ; but I think it too vague to'have much 
credit attached to it. 

At presentj nothing further occurs to me on the 
subject of Macao, except the necessity of sending 
an Engineer thither, as the works, I conclude, 
must be much out of repair. 

In regard to the 1000 Native Seapoys, and one 
Company of Artillery for the Malabar coast, I 
should recommend the following Arrangements, 
which would certainly be the cheapest for their ac- 
commodation : — 

1st, To engage with the owners of the David 
Scott and Daniel to carry a proportion between 
decks, at such a rate each man, as would give them 
an equivalent to the freight of that part of the ship 
for rice, or other articles of commerce. These 
ships would not be detained in landing the troops 
more than forty-eight hours, — -probably not half 
that time in Goa Roads. 

2dly, One ship to be taken up to carry the cargo 

already 



gQ 
already stowed between decks in the Neptune, Aus- 
picious, Anna Maria, Sarah, and Cuvera; by which 
means, the between-decks of the five ships would 
become applicable to the accommodation of the 
Seapoys ; and the Company, by this arrangement, 
would only be put to the expence of one ship ; and 
as she must be taken up for six months, one of the 
other ships, if not wanted on their arrival in the 
Red Sea, might be discharged ; and consequently 
the expence would ultimately not exceed two or 
three months freight for one ship. 

3dly, The ship intended for this service should 
be taken up immediately, and sent down to Ked- 
geree, that her cargo may be directly trans-shipped 
from the other vessels. 

With respect to the armament for Macao, I 
omitted to say that it would, in my opinion, be 
advisable to remove the convicts immediately from 
the Dover Castle and the Asia, and to embark the 
Marine Seapoys on those vessels, as the trouble and 
expence of relanding them, in case Lord Welles- 
ley disapproves of the arrangements, is not to be 
put in any sort of competition with the loss of time 
that must necessarily accrue, if no effective mea- 
sures are taken to meet the urgency of the case, 
during the reference to his Lordship, though sub- 
ject of course to his Exellency's ultimate approba- 
tion and decision. 

Time 



97 

Time is so very precious in this advanced stale 
of the season, as to render it indispensably neces- 
sary to direct whatever you conceive most bene- 
ficial, under all the circumstances of the case, to 
be carried into execution with the utmost energy 
and vigour ; and you may freely command my at- 
tention and exertions, in every instance, where I 
can be useful, — either by personal advice, or the 
assistance of the Officers and men under my com- 
mand, 

I have written this Letter in great haste ; and 
have touched, I believe, on every point, except the 
necessity which evidently increases to a great de- 
gree by the extraordinary events in Europe, of at- 
tempting to gain possession of the Mauritius. On 
this subject I need not now detain you, as it was 
fully discussed, I understand, in your Correspond- 
ence with Lord Wellesley, on the receipt of the 
previous Packet from Bussorah. 
I have the honour to be, 

Honourable Sir, 

with great respect, 

your most obedient and 

most devoted humble Servant, 

(Signed) Home Popham, 



to 



QS 



TO EVAN NEPEAN, ESQ. SECRETARY TO THE AD- 
MIRALTY, &C &c. Sec. 

1 LONDON. 

Romney, Kedgeree, Nov. SO, 1801, 
SIR, 

Immediately after the dispatch of my Letter to- 
you, under date the 22d of September last, an over- 
land packet was received by this government, stat- 
ing the very critical situation of affairs in Portugal, 
and the expectation of an attack on that power by 
the Combined Armies of France and Spain. 

That the enemy meditated, not only the subjuga- 
tion of that kingdom and the exclusion of British 
ships from all her ports, but attempts also on her 
various foreign possessions appeared to me so highly 
probable, that I took the liberty of suggesting to 
bis Excellency the Governor General, in a Letter 
which I addressed to him on the 24th of September^ 
and of which I now have the honour to enclose ex- 
tracts, the expediency of sending a military force, 
consisting of a company of artillery and 5QO native 
troops, to the Portugueze settlement of Macao, for 
the purpose of securing that settlement against at- 
tacks. I also, in another Letter, expressed my opi- 
nion in a fe\v words on the importance of Mozam- 
bique, from its particular situation in that channel. 

On the 6th of this month, the Vice President in 
Council, with whom I have had the most cordial 
intercourse on all public topics since my arrival 

here, 



99 
here, transmitted to me a communication that day * 
received via Constantinople, from one of the agents 
in the Mediterranean, which gave further reasons 
to conclude that my apprehensions as to the pro- 
jects of the enemy were well founded, and induced 
me to recommend the detention of two of the East 
India Company's ships, the Asia and Dover Castle, 
then under dispatch for China, until the Governor 
General should receive authentic advices on this 
important subject, in order that they might be em- 
ployed in transporting troops, according to my sug- 
gestion already quoted, and co-operating in the de« 
fence of Macao, if his Excellency should think fit 
to send them on that service. 

In the interim, the preparations for the transports 
and storeships returning to the Red Sea, were car- 
ried on without intermission, aided in every respect 
by such assistance as I could afford them from the 
Romney ; and I had actually repaired on board, in 
order to proceed to sea, when I received from the 
Vice President in Council the Letter dated the 12th 
instant, of which I have now the honour to enclose 
a copy, together with the several documents it men- 
tions, and among them consequently copies of your 
Letters to Admiral Rainier, dated the 8th and 
10th of July last. 

The objects of the enemy, which I had before 
anticipated, and the extensive injuries likely to at* 
tend the successful issue of them, at Macao in par- 
ticular, having been thus confirmed, I thought it 

o2 my 



100 

my duty, not only to comply with the request of 
the Vice President in Council, by returning to Cal- 
cutta, but also to forward him, without delay, the 
Letter of which I have the honour to enclose a copy, 
dated the 14th instant. 

The vast extent of the China trade to Europe ; 
the immense value of the ships and cargoes, even 
of one season; the annual amount of the duties 
produced by them ; the great importance of the 
commerce carried on with China from all parts of 
India ; and the fatal consequences of any consider- 
able interruption of it, to the resources of this 
country in particular ; added to the extreme faci- 
lity with which the Manilla government, if roused 
by a French Emissary to the least exertion, could 
take possession of Macao, — would of themselves 
have been sufficient, in my judgment, to call upon 
me for every aid I could supply in co-operation 
with his Excellency the Governor General, for the 
purpose of defeating the projects of the enemy 
against that place, and of excluding them from a 
station that is, in fact, a key to the navigation of 
the river of Canton, which I need not observe, is 
the only port of China open to the British Flag. 
But in forming my resolution on this critical occa- 
sion, I did not rely on my own opinion only, but 
was greatly confirmed by the terms of your Letter 
of the 10th of July last to Admiral Rainier, and 
by the order it contained to detach two ships of 
the line to Macao from his small squadron in India, 

and 



101 

and by the urgent representations to me of the Vice 
President in Council. 

My uncertainty, however, as to the Governor 
General's ultimate intentions with respect to the 
Indian Army now in Egypt, and the necessity 
which they might raise for my immediate return 
to the Red Sea, presented such eventual objec- 
tions to my giving convoy to the Asia and Dover 
Castle, and to the troops that his Excellency might 
think fit to send in those vessels to Macao, as he 
only could remove ; and I therefore thought it in- 
cumbent on me to leave to his determination the 
expediency of my undertaking that service, A 
copy of his Letter, dated the 20th instant, together 
with a copy of one addressed to me under his Ex- 
cellency's instructions, by the Vice President in 
Council, and dated the 21st instant, I have now 
the honour to enclose for the information of the 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ; and under 
all circumstances, I trust that my compliance with 
the request of his Excellency will meet with the 
approbation of their Lordships. 

The situation of Admiral Rainier, and of the 
-ships which compose his squadron, is wholly un- 
known to me, and I believe to this Government 
also. The time at which he will receive your Let- 
ters of the 8th and 10th of July, and his means of 
carrying them without delay into effect, must there- 
fore be very uncertain. Bnt if I shall have the good 
fortune to fall in with the two line of battle ships 

to 



102 
to be detached by him, I shall of course make over 
the charge to them of the convoy, and proceed my- 
self to the Red Sea; and even if I shall not have 
that good fortune, still I hope that my return to 
that station will not be protracted above a month ; 
and in the interim I have the satisfaction to believe 
that the complete success of the British Arms in 
Egypt, by the fall of Alexandria, will render this 
additional absence of no importance to his Majesty's 
service in that quarter : indeed, I presumed on the 
little probability of my being of any further use in 
the Red Sea, when I pressed you on the 30th of 
October, in addition to my former Letters, to en- 
treat their Lordships would allow me to quit that 
station and return to Europe. 

I have only to add, that I mean forthwith to dis- 
patch a vessel with advices to the senior Officer 
now in the Red Sea, which I shall also communi- 
cate to Captain Sause of the Sensible, who will 
sail with a convoy in a fortnight hence, stating the 
service on which I am proceeding, and transmitting 
orders to open all Letters from their Lordships 
which shall arrive during my absence, and to take 
every necessary measure, previous to my return, for 
carrying their, directions into effect. 

I cannot close this Letter without assuring you r 
Sir, how much I feel that any circumstance should 
have placed me in a situation of so much delicacy ; 
but I trust my decision, which has so materially 
interfered with all my personal arrangements, will 

be 



103 
be conceived by their Lordships to be founded on 
the true principle of public expediency ; and I 
hope, however, that I shall hear some account at 
Prince of Wales's Island of the expected speedy ar- 
rival of the two line of battle ships intended for this 
service ; and that it will be sufficiently authentic 
to justify my leaving the troops there, and return- 
ing to the Red Sea; but I shall not do this on 
vague or uncertain grounds, after my excess of 
zeal on an occasion of so extraordinary a value has 
prompted me to undertake a service so distant 
from the station prescribed by their Lordships ori- 
ginal instruction, 

I have the honour to be, 
Sir, 
your most obedient humble Servant, 

(Signed) Home Popham* 

TO VICE ADMIRAL RAINIER, COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 
&C &C. &C. 

Romney, Kedgeree, Dec* 5, 180L 
SIR, 

I beg leave to submit to your perusal the en- 
closed copies of my Correspondence with his Ex- 
cellency the Governor General, and with the Vice 
President in Council, upon a subject of great im- 
portance to his Majesty's service, with which, I 
have no doubt, you are by this time fully ac- 
quainted. 

The urgent desire of his Majesty's Ministers to 

frustrate 



104 
frustrate any enterprise in which the enemy may 
have embarked for obtaining possession of Macao, 
and the extreme anxiety of this government lest 
(by an armament directed from Europe, or some 
exertion into which the emissaries of France might 
stimulate the Spaniards at Manilla) that settlement 
should fall into the hands of an hostile force before 
it could be occupied by a British Garrison, — 
added to the very favourable intelligence from 
Egypt, and the consequent probability of an active 
force, in which I could be engaged on my return 
to the Red Sea, placed me, I am persuaded you 
will think, in a very critical as well as a novel situa- 
tion. 

The extreme delicacy which, on the one hand, it 
was my duty to observe, of undertaking any ser- 
vice in these seas without your sanction or com- 
mand ; and the extensive mischief which, on the 
other, I might be able to prevent, by giving con- 
voy, at least as far as the Streights of Malacca, to 
the armament intended for Macao from this coun- 
try, reduced me to a situation of much embarrass- 
ment ; and though 1 have the satisfaction to find 
the determination that I have made confirmed by 
reflection, on every circumstance attending it, yet 
I cannot but feel great anxiety that it should be 
honoured by your approbation. 

The uncertainty in which this Government, as 
well as that of Bombay, appear to have been in, as 
to the particular place at which the dispatches from 

the 



103 
the Admiralty might reach you, independent of the 
state in which the line of battleships of your squa- 
dron might happen to be, — and the possibility that 
cruisers might be speedily ordered by the enemy 
to the eastern part of the bay at this period, were 
still more forcibly urged in my personal confe- 
rences, than you will even find them to be in the 
public Letters on the subject. Still, however, my 
duty at the particular station to which I was sent 
by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, re- 
quired me, in the first place*, to attend to any ser- 
vice which the present situation or future destina- 
tion of the Indian Army in Egypt might require ; 
and consequently, I considered myself called upon 
to submit the consideration of that subject to his 
Excellency the Governor Genera^ who alone was 
finally competent fully to inform me, or rather I 
should say, to decide upon it. His answer to the 
special reference which I made to him on the 
point, left me, Ithought 3 no remaining option, but 
led me to undertake the service of convoying the 
armament now about to sail to Prince of Wales's 
Island, in the first instance, and eventually to the 
quarter in which it is destined to act, if I should 
not be so fortunate as to fall in with the ships al- 
luded to in Mr*NEPEAN*s Letters of the 8th and 
10th of July, which, by this time, I hope, you will 
be enabled to dispatch. 

In adopting this measure I have been not a little 
p encouraged 



106" 

encouraged by the known liberality of your senti- 
ments on all subjects, and particularly on such as 
relate to the public service ; the means by which 
the national interest may be most effectually pro- 
moted. Some responsibility, I am aware, ever 
must attach to any deviation from the strict line of 
orders, even in so remote a quarter of the globe, 
and under any emergency, however urgent and 
unforeseen. But if, in addition to the sanction 
which my conduct in this instance must derive 
from the magnitude of the particular object itself, 
and from the strong, and I may venture almost to 
say, irresistible representations and requests of the 
Supreme Government in India, I shall have the 
happiness of your approbation also, I shall feel per- 
fectly satisfied that I have acquitted myself as be- 
comes an Officer zealous for the service of his 
Majesty and the great national interests which are 
at stake; 

I need scarcely add, that I shall consider my- 
self very fortunate in having an early opportunity 
of delivering over charge of the convoy to the ships 
of your squadron, and of thereby feeling myself at 
liberty of returning forthwith to the Red Sea. I 
hope, at all events, to arrive there by the end of 
February, even if I should be under the necessity 
of proceeding with the convoy to its utmost point. 
And I shall feel myself much honoured by re- 
ceiving, on my return to Mocha, your Answer to 

this 



107 
this Letter, with which I have now taken the liberty 
of troubling you. 

I have the honour to be, 
Sir, 
with the highest respect, 

your most obedient, and 

most devoted humble Servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham, 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 

QUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAP^ 

TAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH 

POSSESSIONS IN THE EAST, 

&C §CC, &C, 

FORT WILLiAiM, 

Romney, Madras Roads , January 7? 1893L 
MY LORD, 

After complying with your Excellency's wishes, 
io superintend the important service of Macao, I 
dispatched from Kedgeree, several days previous 
to ray sailing, the Waller brig to Prince of Wales's 
Island, with the double view of having the troops 
held in readiness for embarkation, and the chance 
of her meeting Admiral Rainier there, or the 
ships which he might have sent on the service in 
question, if he had received the Secretary of the 
Admiralty's Letter of the 10th of July, 

The brig fortunately arrived the evening he was 
to get under weigh, when he had not even received 
the Letter alluded to, though some days after- 

p 1 wards 



108 
wards ibe Orpheus frigate joined him, having' pre- 
viously fallen in with the Antelope cruiser, which 
was sent by the Bombay Government in search of 
the Admiral. Captain Elphinstone took a copy 
of the Dispatches 5 and the Antelope has not since 
been heard of. 

I arrived at Prince of Wales's Island the 26th of 
December, having spoke the Admiral off the north, 
end, who returned with me to the anchorage. 

He directed the Arrogant and Orpheus to pro- 
ceed to Macao with the Indiamen ; but his squa- 
dron was so scantily supplied, at that moment, that 
the Romney's provisions and stores were taken out, 
that the ships might be enabled to perform the 
service. 

I could not exactly learn, from the particular 
mode in which the Admiral expressed himself, 
whether he conceived I had acted properly in at- 
tending, under every circumstance, to this particular 
point of duty: I was very conscious I had; and 
1 knew I had no bias but the public good; I there- 
fore took no notic of a variety of inuendoes, tend- 
ing to reprobate those Officers who paid attention 
to the remonstrances of the Governments in India, 
under any case, even of the most extaordinary emer- 
gency. I have the honour to be, 
My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient, 

and very humble Servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham* 



log 

TO CAPTAIN SIR HOME POPHAM, K. M. &C. &C. &C- 

Lucknow, FeLS, 18C2, 
sin, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of 
your Letter from Madras, under date the 7 th ult. 

I am extremely concerned to learn, from the 
tenor of that Dispatch, the unfavourable and erro- 
neous view which his Excellency Vice Admiral 
Rainier appears to have taken of the liberal and 
zealous aid which you have afforded, in the prose* 
cution of the measures adopted under my orders, 
for the security of the National Interests in the 
Chinese Seas. 

I trust, that it will be satisfactory to you, on this 
occasion, to receive the repetition of my highest 
approbation, and the expressions of my grateful- 
sense of the meritorious spirit of alacrity and public 
zeal which I have experienced from you, in ap- 
plying the means within your power to the security 
of the important interests entrusted to my charge, 
I shall discharge a most satisfactory part of my 
duty, by communicating to his Majesty's Ministers 
my sense of your conduct, on every occasion where- 
in the National Interests could derive any benefit 
or assistance from your exertions; and I entertain 
no doubt that you will receive their approbation. 
I have the honour to be, Sir, 

your most obedient faithful Servant, 

(Signed) Weleesley. 



no 

Nothing particular occurred until my arrival at 
Suez, where I immediately began to explore for 
water, and other resources applicable to the wants 
of the Army. My Correspondence will, I have no 
doubt, clearly shew how I was occupied in consi- 
dering and forwarding every branch of the Coin- 
pany's Interest. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE 

EARL OF ELGIN, HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S 

AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AT 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Romney, Suez Harbour, March 19, 1802. 
MY LORD, 

On my arrival at Suez, I had the honour to re- 
ceive your Excellency's Letters of the 20th of Oc- 
tober and 1 6th of December, 1801, enclosing one 
to the SherifFe of Mecca. 

I regret very much that Mr. Stratton had left 
Cairo previous to my reaching this place, as I should 
not have considered it any trouble to go across the 
Desart ; for I think an interview might have bene- 
fited the public service. 

The Letter to the SherifFe will, I fear, answer no 
purpose, connected with the particular objects of 
my Mission : it seems rather calculated to gain his 
influence in furnishing supplies ; which the Arabs 
have, in general, done very readily. 

Soon after the Governor General appointed mc 
Ambassador to the States of Arabia, he informed 
?ne, he had written to you very freely on the sub- 
ject; 



ill 

j'eet ; and desired I would correspond with yoii 
freely on every occasion ; the necessity of which I 
naturally felt, which was the reason of my troubling 
you on my first arrival in the Red Sea. 

Your Excellency's Letter, however, of the '20th 
of October, stating that the Porte had sent a very 
liberal and friendly proposal to England, in regard 
to our establishments in the Red Sea, leaves me, 
for the present, in a state of uncertainty as to the 
line I am to pursue at Cairo for Suez ; and at Jud- 
dah, which is the southernmost place the Grand 
Seignior has considered subject to him for many- 
years. 

The Executive Government is at present cer- 
tainly in the hands of the Pacha at Suez ; but it is 
very problematical whether it will be so at Juddah r 
as the troops of the SherifFe, and those of the Grand 
Seignior, were continually under arms while I was 
there ; and had several skirmishes. The Pacha was 
at Mecca ; and although he was expected to re- 
turn the day I sailed, vet many people doubted his 
ever being allowed to quit Mecca. 

if his Majesty has agreed to the Propositions sent 
by the Porte for our establishments in the Red Sea, 
I think it very likely that some orders will be sent 
here to carry them into effect, unless the farms of 
office should solely lead them, through your Excel- 
lency ; in which case I am certain you will favour 
me with the earliest communication. 

The trade cf the Red Sea was formerly so ad- 
vantageous 



V&ntageouS to the East India Company, more par* 
ticularly by the influx of bullion, that the Most 
Noble the Governor General has deemed it expe- 
dient to use every means in his power to bring it 
back to its original channels ; and very little is 
wanting to effect this, beyond a safe conveyance 
from Suez to Cairo : no restriction on the disposal 
of the Indian property, beyond what may be esteem- 
ed a fair duty; and regular administration of jus- 
tice and protection of the civil power, to enable the 
Indian Merchant to receive the amount of the pro* 
perty he sells. 

These are the principal points ; and I feel it un- 
necessary to trouble your Excellency with any mi- 
nute details, trusting that this will be sufficient for 
you to give me every information in your power, in 
respect to their connection with any negociation or 
arrangement which may at this instant be making 
between Great Britain and the Sublime Porte. 

I have requested that this Letter may be sent by 
an express from Cairo ; and hope you will be good 
enough to favour me with an answer as early as 
possible. 

I have the honour to be, 
My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient, 

and very humble Servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham. 



TO 



1:13 



T HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
QUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAP- 
TAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH 
POSSESSIONS IN THE EAST, &C. &C. 

FORT WILLIAM. 

Romney, Suez Harbour, April 10, 1802. 
MY LORD, 

After I had prepared every thing for my journey 
to Alexandria, to confer with General Baird on the 
embarkation of the troops and other subjects, I 
heard from Cairo, that the plague had made its ap- 
pearance in that city; which, however, was de- 
scribed as being confined to one quarter of the 
town ; but as I know there are scarce any bounds 
to the ravages of that disorder when it once begins 
to spread, I thought it most adviseable to remain at 
Suez, and acquaint General Baird with my reasons 
for having done so ; especially as it became neces- 
sary to use every precaution, for fear the disease 
should be communicated to the ships. 

I have every reason to believe, that it is partial 
in Cairo ; and its having broke out so late, gives 
me cause to hope it will be checked in its first ap- 
pearance, and not brought to Suez. If, however, 
from the general intercourse that exists at this mo- 
ment with all descriptions of people on their pil- 
grimage, it should be brought here, I shall lose no 
time in removing the ships from this Road, and 
cut off all communication with the shore. I have 

a given 



114 

given the Commanders of the different chartered 
ships to understand, and repeated it in the General 
Orders (a copy of which I have the honour of en- 
closing for your Excellency's information), that any 
ship catching the infection will be burnt; and if it 
is proved that the infection was caught by any neg- 
ligence on the part of the Commanders or Officers, 
the loss will fall on the Owners, and not on Go- 
vernment. 

I have also sent a copy of the Orders to General 
Baird, that he may be satisfied his troops will be 
embarked in clean healthy ships. 

In exploring the different parts of the coast, 
springs of excellent water have been discovered, 
and wells are dug, about twenty-four miles from 
hence, where the ships go down in rotation to 
water ; which is as good as any in India, and plen- 
tifully supplied ; independent of which, we have 
several wells contiguous to this anchorage, which 
afford tolerable good water, and in great abun~ 
dance. 

I have the honour to be. 
My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient 

and devoted humble servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham*. 



GENERAL 



115 



©ENERAL ORDERS BY CAPTAIN SIR HOME POPHAM, 

K. M. 

dated $th April, 1802. 

[Quoted in the foregoing Letter.] 

Sir Home Popham has received positive ac- 
counts, that the plague has made its appearance in 
Cairo ; and therefore wishes to impress the Com- 
manders of the Honourable Company's chartered 
ships of the fatal consequences which may attend 
the breaking out of that dreadful disorder in any 
ship under his command, which will, in all proba- 
bility, oblige him to make a sacrifice of that ship 
for the preservation of the whole ; as it will be im- 
possible to embark the Army while there is the 
slightest suspicion of the disorder being in the 
squadron ; and even this remedy will be severely 
felt in the Army, if other ships do not arrive, by 
reducing the tonnage ; which, at present, is only 
competent to embark the whole. 

In addition to a variety of precautions which 
common prudence suggests, and which are mate- 
rially increased by the practice resulting from a sea 
life, especially in all cases of epidemical disorders, 
Sir Home Popham desires the following Regula- 
tions may be attended to :— 

The communication with Suez to be as limited 
as possible, consistent with the duty of the ships. 

a 2 The 



iY6 

The intercourse with the Natives to be restrict- 
ed to necessity, especially of touching them. 

No boat to go to the town, except on duty ; and 
to return when that is accomplished. 

An Officer to go in each boat, and to prevent the 
Lascars from unnecessary communication with the 
Arabs. This article to be most particularly attend- 
ed to on the arrival of the caravans from Cairo. . 

When any bales are opened on shore, the Offi- 
cers are to direct their boats' crews to avoid going 
near them, as the contagion is in nine instances 
out often brought by bales. 

The communication between Alexandria and 
Rosetta is under a quarantine of forty days ; and a 
quarantine is also enforced between Cairo and Ro- 
setta, as the plague rages very violently at that 
place: therefore the approaching any packages, 
which come by water from Alexandria is attended 
with much danger ; and if packages should come 
to any ship, particularly of woollen, it is my orders 
that they be opened on shore, exposed to the air, 
and the precaution of fumigation used the same as 
if there was reason to suppose that some infection 
actually existed in the bale. 

No Officer or person belonging to any of the 
ships to be allowed to go to Cairo, on any pretence 
whatever, without permission being first obtained 
of me. 

All Officers who are now at Cairo, are to. go 

through 



117 

through the first stages of quarantine before they 
are admitted on board their respective ships, viz. 

That they have themselves scrubbed with soap 
and water, to remove any miasmata that may be ad- 
hering to the skin ; then smoke themselves, and 
put on fresh clothes, leaving their old ones to un- 
dergo a fumigation ; and remain on shore until 
further orders. 

All the ships are to be held in readiness to go to 
sea with as little delay as possible ; for the mo- 
ment any symptoms of the plague appear in Suez, 
it is my intention to move the squadron from this 
anchorage. 

The general symptoms of the plague are, violent 
head-aches, giddiness, sudden loss of strength and 
vomiting of bile, pains in the back or loins, small 
blotches in different parts of the body, and large 
glandular swellings in the neck, under the arms, 
or in the groin : when these appear, application is 
to be made immediately to the Surgeon of his Ma- 
jesty's ship Romney. 

Although Sir Home Popham has been obliged 
to issue these orders as a precaution against this 
dangerous disease being introduced on board the 
ships, yet he does not wish to prevent the Com- 
manders of the ships from sending their boats to 
purchase refreshments. He expects, however, the 
most extraordinary care will be taken at this mo- 
ment ; for if an accident should happen by neglect- 
ing 



* 



118 

htg these precautions, a copy of which will be sent 
to the Governor General, a question may arise in 
the mind of his Excellency, on whom the loss of 
burning a ship will fall, if necessity urges the mea- 
sure. 

If the Commanders of the ships will propose any 
mode of accommodation for themselves, in which 
Sir Home Popham can assist, he will be very happy 
to attend to it* provided he sees a probability of 
succeeding by his interference ; nor will he hesi- 
tate to defray any reasonable expence to accomplish 
such object for the general good. 

(Signed) Home Popham. 

GENERAL ORDERS. 

April B, 1802. 

Live stock of every description, more parti- 
cularly sheep, is so likely to retain and communi- 
cate infection, that I desire, from this day, all 
sheep may be shorn on shore and washed, before 
they are brought into the different ships ; and if it 
is possible to keep the poultry a certain time on 
shore after it arrives, the risk will be materially re- 
duced which may attach to it, by its being imme- 
diately brought on board from any of the villages. 

Every attention is to be paid to the cleanliness 
of the ships; and they are to be occasionally fumi- 
gated, not only with a view of preserving the 
health of their crews, but keeping them in a state 
to embark the troops at the shortest notice. 

A Return 



119 

A Return of the number of sick to be made to 
tbe Agents of the different divisions twice a week ; 
and whenever medical or other assistance is re- 
quired, application is to be immediately made to 
the Romney. Two Commanders in each division, 
with the Agent, to form a Committee of Health, 
for the purpose of inspecting the ships of the divi- 
sion, and pointing out any neglect, — which is to 
be immediately remedied, whether in regard to 
the cleanliness of the ships or the health of the 
crews. 

The Committee is also to report any neglect 
that it may observe, in carrying into execution the 
different Regulations to prevent the plague being 
communicated to the ships. 

A Captain of one of his Majesty's ships will be 
directed to inspect weekly the different ships of 
each division, and report to me accordingly. 

(Signed) Home Pofham*. 



TRANSLATION OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY SIR H. 

YOPHAM, K. M. TO HIS EXCELLENCY HOUSZER 

MEHMET, PACHA, VIZIER OF THREE 

TAILS, AND VICEROY OF EGITTO, 

RESIDING AT GRAND CAIRO, 

Dated Suez, the 22a of April, 1802. 

I lose no time in replying to your Excellency's 
Letter of the 17th inst. ; and assuring you of the 
pleasure I derive in knowing from your Excel- 
lency, that you consider the sacred Capitulations 

made 



120 

made by his Imperial Majesty the Grand Seignior* 
and the King of Great Britain, to include the trade 
between Egypt and India* 

Except an assurance of a safe conveyance across 
the Desart, 1 see no obstacle which can prevent an 
immediate intercourse and exchange of commodi- 
ties taking place, when his Excellency the Most 
Noble the Marquis Wellesley, Gevernor Ge- 
neral, shall receive my Letters, which will inclose 
the substance of my Correspondence with your 
Excellency. 

It will, however, be very desirable that a public 
assurance should be given of security against the 
Arabs ; and as Merchants must look to a cer- 
tainty in transactions of this nature, I conceive 
they would be more ready to commence their 
Commercial Intercourse with the country under 
your Excellency's Government, if they could have 
such a guarantee of safety for their goods, as would 
enable them to calculate on an equivalent return 
for any accident that might happen in crossing 
the Desart. 

I am very much obliged to your Excellency for 
the offer of your passports to Constantinople ; but 
it is by no means necessary for me either to go or 
to send any person there. 

I believe the duty, according to the Capitulation 
between the Ottoman Porte and Great Britain, is 
three per centum on all goods exported and im- 
ported. I know of no other; but should any other 

exist, 



121 
exist, I beg your Excellency will acquaint me with 
it, that I may forward the information to the Go- 
vernor General of India. 

I hope, in the course of a day or two after the 
arrival of Mr. Calavage at Suez, who is to accom- 
pany me across the Desart, that I shall be able to 
set off for Cairo, with a view of paying my respects 
to your Excellency. 

I have the honour to be 

your Excellency's most obedient 
and most devoted humble Servant, 

(Signed) Home Popham, 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
QUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAP- 
TAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH 
POSSESSIONS IN THE EAST, 

&c. Sec. &c. 

PORT WILLIAM. 

Romney, Suez Harbour* April 23, 1802. 
MY LORD, 

As it was impossible for me to quit Suez, under 
the circumstances which I have stated in my Dis- 
patches ; and that no time might be lost in ascer- 
taining Whether the Turkish Government consi- 
dered Egypt and India as included in the general 
Treaty of Commerce between Great Britain and the 
Ottoman Porte ? or, Whether the Pacha would 
make a Treaty for twelve months ? I sent an Of- 
ficer to Cairo with the annexed Letter ; to which is 
affixed the Pacha's Answer. 

r I was 



%%% 

I was induced to take this step, from a persua- 
sion that every exertion should be made to increase 
our influence in Egypt; and I do not see any thing 
so likely to accomplish this end, as an immediate 
Commercial Intercourse, under certain limitations. 
I was aware, however, that in case any objection 
should have arisen, to give the commerce from In- 
dia the same terms as that from Europe to the 
ports of the Grand Seignior, it would require some 
trme to receive your Lordship's Instructions, which 
it might not be possible to form, until the final 
issue of the Negociation now pending at Amiens 
shall be known to your Excellency ; and, on this 
account, I proposed a temporary Commercial Ar- 
rangement for the general good of the countries. 

The answer from the Pacha, however, on this 
head, is so conclusive, that any kind of treaty or 
negociation for Suez becomes unnecessary ; and 
when I see his Excellency, I will endeavour to ascer- 
tain whether the Grand Seignior considers the port 
of Juddah so completely under his authority and 
subjection, as to include it in the general Capitula- 
tion with Great Britain. If so, the trade between 
India and the Gulph of Arabia may be carried on 
under advantages it never before enjoyed, parti- 
cularly to the port of Suez; and in a very short 
time your Lordbhip will be able to form a judg- 
ment of the extent to which it may be expedient to 
carry such a commerce. 

During 



123 

During the government of the Beys, it was im- 
possible to make any calculation, or to act on a 
fixed principle ; for the frequent revolutions sub- 
jected the Treaties to a variety of alterations, and 
little security was given to the Merchant for the 
property which he trusted in Cairo, nor was there 
any regular administration of justice to which he 
could look for redress. Yet, under all these dis- 
advantages, a duty of ]2 per cent, and presents 
without limit, the Merchants in India found it an 
advantageous trade ; and if our Government had 
given them the least support, I understand it would 
have been carried on to a very great extent. 

Your Lordship will observe that I have, in my 
second Letter (see foregoing) to the Pacha, pres- 
sed him to say, Whether there are any duties 
beyond three per cent. ? I have examined the 
Treaties published by Mr. Gostling in 17Q2, 
which, I believe, are the last extant ; and I find 
the duties have never been altered since the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth ; and the thirty-seventh 
Article of the Treaty made at iVdrianople, parti- 
cularly alluding to Cairo, Aleppo, &c. says, 

" The English Merchants, and all others who 
u shall be under the colours of England, may 
" freely and safely traffic and trade in Aleppo, 
" Cairo, Scio, Smyrna, and in all places of our 
" dominions, paying, according to the ancient 
" custom, three per cent, for all their merchan- 
" dizes, and no more." 

R 2 Nothing 



124 

Nothing can be more favourable than this low 
per centage, without the right to exact any present 
whatever, though it may be policy to pay a compli- 
ment of that kind to the Governor of Suez, the 
head of the Customs at Cairo, and some other in- 
ferior Officers ; but it will be very desirable to have 
some surety in crossing the Desart. A small sa- 
crifice might be made to fix a privilege of calling 
for a Turkish guard, whenever an English Caravan 
of any value was ready to cross the Desart ; and I 
submit to your Excellency the propriety, especially 
as the intercourse is so quick between Cairo and 
and Suez, of passing a regulation, that not more 
than the value of one lack of rupees of British pro- 
perty shall ever be entrusted to one caravan ; 
that there shall never be two caravans on the road 
at the same time. 

Mr. Rossetti, the Imperial Consul at Cairo, 
whose name is known to your Lordship, and, I be- 
lieve, with rather a doubtful impression as to his 
principles, has corresponded with me on the subject 
of the loss he has sustained by the French, in con- 
sequence of his acting in the capacity of Vice Con- 
sul to Mr. Baldwin. I desired him, as your Lord- 
ship will see by my Letter to his address in this 
Dispatch, to make out the state of his case, sup- 
ported by official documents, and that I would 
transmit it to your Excellency. 

I have made every enquiry about him : and, as 
it is evident he has suffered by the French invasion 

of 



12J 
of Egypt, I should not imagine he was the person 
who invited Bonaparte to the expedition, as I be- 
lieve has been represented to your Excellency. At 
all events, in the present instance, he may mate- 
rially serve us ; and no person appears more suit- 
able to our purposes, as he now stands very high 
with the Pacha, and, from his long residence, con- 
nections, and property, has great influence with 
many of the Arab Chiefs. 

His pride is to be the ostensible Agent to the 
English Government, with a view, I suppose, of 
adding to his consequence in Egypt. I have writ- 
ten to him, that I saw no objection to such an 
arrangement until your Lordship's pleasure was 
known ; and that, on my visiting Cairo, I might 
be induced to make the appointment. In the in- 
terim, however, I have instructed him to bring for- 
ward some specific engagement with persons com- 
petent to do so, for the insurance of the caravans 
across the Desart, even by paying a certain per 
centage. 

Such propositions could not well come from me, 
after the assurance already given me by the Pacha; 
but Mr. Rossetti might, I conceive, manage it ; 
and then the Merchants in India, if your Lordship 
decides to let them have the trade, and not keep it 
for a certain time in the hands of the Company, 
will be able to form their calculations on a sure 
basis, without any casualty, except the sea risk. 

I do not yet feel myself sufficiently informed to 

write 



126 

Write more on the subject of the trade with Egypt ; 
but after my visit to Cairo, I shall be enabled to 
offer some ideas on this and other points, for your 
Lordship's consideration. 

I should have sent a vessel to India before now, 
but I have been in daily expectation of receiving 
some positive advices from Europe. I cannot, 
however, delay any longer ; and I keep another 
cruiser ready to sail at a moment's warning ; and 
she will be ordered direct to Bengal with whatever 
Dispatches may arrive. 

I have the honour to remain, 

with every respect, 
My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient, 
and most devoted humble Servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham. 

April 29. 

P. S. I kept this Letter open until the last mo- 
ment, in the hope that some late European news 
might arrive ; and when I was about dispatching 
the Panther, Colonel Montresor arrived with the 
Definitive Treaty, which will be forwarded with 
him to Bengal in the Alexander; and in duplicate 
to Bombay by the Panther. 

(Signed) Home Popham. 



TO 



12? 



TO THE HONOURABLE THE SECRET COMMITTEE OF 
THE HON. EAST INDIA COMPANY, 

LONDON. 

Romney, Suez Harbour, May 2, 1802. 
HONOURABLE SIRS, 

I have hitherto availed myself of every opportu- 
nity to transmit, either to you or the Chairman of 
your Honourable Committee, copies of such of my 
Letters as appeared to be of any consequence to 
the Governor General, on the subject of Egypt or 
Arabia. I therefore take the liberty of troubling 
you with the enclosed (see preceding Letter) which 
was written just before the Proclamation from Leg- 
horn, of the Definitive Treaty being signed; and 
as it was sent to me, I dispatched it on the 29th ult. 
to Bombay and Bengal. The transports are all 
held ready to sail at a moment's warning; and as 
his Excellency has put every thing under my di- 
rection, you may depend on it I shall endeavour to 
relieve the Company of the enormous expence of 
tonnage as early as possible ; and as fast as detach- 
ments arrive, the ships shall sail. I hope, with the 
assistance of the squadron under my command, that 
we shall be able to embark the whole of the Army; 
but it will be with difficulty, as the moment I took 
charge of the Company's ships I reduced the 
monthly expence of tonnage upwards of two lacks 
of rupees, which you will see by my several Letters 
on this head of last year ; and I had taken measures, 

and 



128 

and absolutely issued orders, for the discharge of 
all the other ships, except eight, when the arrival 
of the Preliminary Articles of Peace stopped those 
arrangements. My attention, however, in other 
respects, has not been less devoted to reduce the 
expence of the Company ; and I hope that his Ex- 
cellency the Governor General has equally mani- 
fested his approbation of my conduct to you as 
myself. 

I have the honour to be, 

Honourable Sirs, 
your most obedient humble Servant* 

(Signed) Home Popham, 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST N03LE THE MAR- 
QUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAP- 
TAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH 
POSSESSIONS IN THE EAST, &C. &C. 

FORT WILLIAM. 

Ronmey, Suez Harhour, May 7, 1802. 
MY LORD, 

I take the earliest opportunity to acknowledge, 
under the sincerest impressions of gratitude, your 
Excellency's Letter of the 8th of February, from 
Lucknow, which I this morning received, convey- 
ing me your sense of my zeal to promote in totality 
the interests of the very extensive and valuable 
countries which are committed exclusively to your 
Lordship's care. 

So liberal an appreciation of my readiness to meet 

your 



129 
your wishes on every occasion, cannot fail to exact 
from me the same line of conduct which has al- 
ready procured me such honourable testimonies ; 
and promises, on your Report, to add the approba- 
tion of his Majesty's Ministers. 

I feel myself highly interested in the issue of the 
different services in which I am engaged. I hold 
it a duty, in compliance with my instructions, to 
attend to all your Lordships's suggestions ; and I 
hope I shall discharge that trust equally satisfactory 
to you and creditable to myself. 

I have the honour of remaining, 
with every sentiment of respect, 
, My Lord, 

your Excellency's most obedient, 
and much obliged humble Servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
QUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAP- 
TAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH 
POSSESSIONS IN THE EAST INDIES, 

&c. &c. &c. 

FORT WILLIAM. 

Juddab, June 30, 180%, 
MY LORD, 

It is with extreme concern that I inform your 
Lordship of the death of the Turkish Pacha at 
Mecca ; he was poisoned by the SberifFe, on his 
second visit, according to the reports I hear, which 
I am inclined to believe, not only from the various 

s channels 



130 

channels by which they were conveyed, but because 
it was a measure long anticipated by people per- 
fectly acquainted with his disposition. 

The Sheriffe is prepared to meet the indignation 
of the Porte, if he cannot resist his force, by retir- 
ing to the interior mountains with all his treasure ; 
unless he can make some negociation with the in- 
dependent Sheiks, which I very much doubt, from 
his well known treacherous disposition. 

I had little reason to expect any personal inter- 
course with him, from the moment I heard of the 
untimely death of the Pacha ; but, in conformity 
to my duty, I wrote him from Tor, of my intention 
to be at Juddah about the 26th ; and I addressed 
myself to him a second time, on my arrival here : 
to both these Letters I received the most evasive 
answers, through his Vizier, that if I had any thing 
to communicate to him, I might write to him at 
Taaf (a place famous for its gardens, some distance 
from Mecca) as he was there eating fruit, and it 
was too much trouble to come to Juddah, 

-After the plain and unequivocal manner in which 
I had explained every circumstance to the Sheriffe, 
I was satisfied he would endeavour to avoid any 
specific treaty, unless he was considerably alarmed 
by the presence of a Turkish force, which might 
induce him to think a new connection with us 
would enable him to command a powerful reference 
in his favour with the Sublime Porte, in case he 
should have occasion to court it ; and, indeed, I 

attributed 



131 

attributed his particular attention to this motivej 
when I called here, on my way up to Suez. 

The Merchants of this place are extremely anxi- 
ous that he should meet me, as the only chance 
they have of being relieved from his tyrannical re- 
strictions on their commerce, by affording a pros- 
pect of a free intercourse with the English, under 
certain limited duties ; but the most sanguine even 
of these, are confident the SherifFe will not give 
the least encouragement to our ships, while he can 
supply the country with the most valuable goods it 
imports in his own. 

Independent of all these considerations, I think 
his violent antipathy to the English, from their in- 
timate alliance with the Ottoman Porte, and his 
own predilection to the French, may be urged as a 
cause for this disinclination to enter into a new 
treaty ; but the commercial consequence of the 
port of Juddah is so materially lessened by the more 
favourable intercourse which we may enjoy with 
that of Suez, that I do not apprehend your Lord* 
ship will consider it an object for making any con- 
cessions to obtain it ; especially during the reign 
of a Prince, whose actions have made the duration 
of his life so highly problematical. 

Under the existing customs, as applicable to the 
British Nation, every mercantile transaction, which 
it may be proposed to undertake, can be carried 
into effect without any material inconvenience ; 

s 2 and, 



132 

and, I trusty in the plan which I shall have the ho« 
nour of submitting to your Lordship for the trade 
of the Red Sea, the interests of the Sheriffe will be 
so violently attacked, that you will be satisfied he 
is the only sufferer, from not meeting your Lord- 
ship's propositions in the manner it became him 
to do. 

Mr. Downie, the harbour-master, made several 
efforts to pay his respects to the Sheriffe when he 
was at Juddah, under the instructions I gave him 
on that subject ; but he was regularly informed, 
that the Sheriffe was too busy to see any body; 
and, I understand from him, that Syed Mahomed 
Akeel, a very independent Arab Merchant of Doe- 
far, on the coast of Arabia, according to a promise 
which he made me at Calcutta, when I had an oppor- 
tunity of obtaining for him an order of accommo- 
dation from Government, frequently conversed with 
the Sheriffe on the subject of my mission, and 
urged him to come from Mecca to meet me; set- 
ting forth the advantages that his country would 
derive from such a connection, in so forcible 
a manner, that the Sheriffe became quite en- 
raged, and told him he was a slave of the hogs 
(the English) ; and this I understand to be his 
constant mode of expressing himself, whenever he 
has occasion to mention the name of the British 
Nation, 

Mr. Downie has been directed to move from 

Juddah 



133 

Juddah without loss of time, and his appointment 
shall be discharged. 

I have the honour to be, 
with the greatest respect, 
My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient, 
and faithful Servant, 

(Signed) Home Fopham. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
GUIS WELLESLEY, K.P. GOVERNOR, &C.&C. &C. 

Mocha, July 25, 18C2. 
MY LORD, 

I had it very seriously in contemplation to pro- 
ceed to Sunna, on my arrival at this place ; but 
when I came on shore, and satisfied myself of every 
particular relating to our situation in the country, 
our absolute domicile, and the means of carrying 
on the most extended commerce, I saw no direct 
object to be obtained by going so far from Mocha, 
that could justify my exceeding the limit of your 
instructions; especially as your Lordship thought 
it necessary, in a separate Letter, to call my atten- 
tion more forcibly to that paragraph expressive of 
your Lordship's wish that I should not remove far 
from the sea- coat, unless I am induced to do it 
from a probability of obtaining some special ad- 
vantages. 

As the Imaum, however, had been led to expect 
that 1 should proceed to Sunna with my suite and 

escort. 



134 

escort, and given orders for the necessary prepara- 
tions to be made on the road, I took the earliest 
opportunity of sending* Mr. Elliott, with Lieute- 
nant Lamb and Dr. Pkingle, properly attended ; 
and I have the honour to enclose, for your Lord- 
ship's information, the instructions I thought ne- 
cessary to give him on this occasion. I desired 
him to urge to the Imaum, as a reason for my not 
proceeding myself, that I expected Dispatches of 
very considerable importance from England, by the 
way of Suez, and that I could not, on any account, 
go so far from Mocha, but that I might probably 
visit Suez ; and if he would allow his Vizier to 
meet me there, the different propositions, sent by 
Mr. Elliott might be finally discussed and ar- 
ranged, to the satisfaction of both parties. 

I hope your Lordship will consider that every 
thing I have asked is so reasonable, that it cannot 
be refused ; and I have desired Mr. Elliott to 
dwell most on the difference of duty in favour of 
the French; not so much in consideration of the 
specific small per centage, as the marked favour to 
a nation that might have revolutionized all Arabia, 
but for the determined conduct and interference of 
his Britannic Majesty. 

I do not apprehend any great difficulty about the 
factory ; as the Dutch factory has been given up 
many years, owing to the continual disputes they 
were involved in with this Government, it has re- 
mained empty, and will, with some addition, an- 
swer 



135 
swer every purpose we can wish. In speaking of 
the Government, I mean particularly the Govern- 
ment of this town ; and it rea^ires more than com- 
mon patience to be upon any terms with theDolas 
who are now appointed. They are, in general, 
slaves of the Imaum or Vizier, from an idea of their 
being more honest than the free subjects ; but they 
are so alarmed on account of the precarious tenure 
of their lives, that they cannot attend to any busi- 
ness out of the presented line of their instructions, 
without a reference to Sunna ; and the intercourse 
consumes such a length of time, that the delay is 
highly injurious to every person concerned. Your 
Lordship will require no further knowledge of the 
system under which this town is ruled, to satisfy 
you of the impediments that must daily arise from 
such instructions, given to the most ignorant and 
obstinate of the human race, suddenly raised from 
the meanest situation, to be Governor of a sea-port 
of very extensive trade. 

I have understood, since my arrival here, that the 
Nawab of Surat, through his agents, has been in- 
dustriously employed at the Court of Sunna, to 
prejudice Imaum against us, and to prevent his in- 
creasing our privileges, or allowing us either to 
have a fixed establishment at Mocha, or even to 
land any part of my escort. He has intimated that 
our ultimate view is, to obtain the entire possession 
of Mocha, in the manner we did at Surat ; with 
many other assertions, which, I hope, will be con- 
sidered 



136 
sidered more as the effect of revenge than the mark 
of sincere regard to the Imaum. In the first in- 
stance, however, it may operate a little against us ; 
but, when the Imaum comes to weigh the loss 
which he may eventually sustain, by withholding 
from this opportunity of increasing his connection, 
while the Sultan of Aden is offering us the most 
advantageous terms to establish there, I have no 
doubt but the interest of his country will plead our 
cause so forcibly, that all the arguments of the 
Nawab will have little or no effect. 

The Sultan of Aden's son has been with me some 
time; and I think highly of his talents and discre- 
tion ; I have sent him to his father, who I expect 
will meet me there to conclude a treaty ; the heads 
of which are sent for his consideration. 

As I am just closing a separate. Letter, solely on 
the subject of the trade of the Red Sea, I shall not, 
at present, enlarge about Aden ; though I have no 
doubt of giving it a decided preference as a com- 
mercial port ; and, under the treaty at present pro- 
posed, the Company will have the balance of power 
so completely in their hands, that they may raise 
or ruin either place, as may best suit their political 
interests. 

I have the honour to be, 

with the greatest deference and respect, 
My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient and 
most devoted humble Servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham. 



137 



TO W.P.ELLIOTT, ESQ. SECRETARY OF THE EMBASSY 
TO THE STATES OP ARABIA. 



A variety of important considerations have ren- 
dered it expedient that I should defer my visit to 
Sunna until the arrival of intelligence from Europe. 
I am, notwithstanding, very anxious to carry into 
immediate execution the instructions which I have 
received from his Excellency the Most Noble the 
Governor General of India, respecting that Court; 
and have thought proper to send you thither, in 
charge of his Excellency's Letters to the Imaum 
and principal Officers of his Government, with the 
hope that, by this measure, the objects in view may 
be more speedily attained. 

You will be supplied with suitable presents, not 
only for the King, his eldest son, and principal 
Vizier, but also with some of inferior value, to be 
disposed of as your judgment may suggest. 

Lieutenant Lamb, with a proportion of my escort, 
and Dr. Pringle, have been directed to accom- 
pany you ; and the Doula will furnish a sufficient 
number of native troops to afford the necessary 
protection on the road. 

The principal points which I have in view, is to 
establish the Company's commerce between India 
and the Red Sea on a permanent and solid basis ; 
that it may not be subject to extraordinary imposts, 
or capricious exactions ; and to acquire for it a de- 

t gree 



138 
gree of consideration, by obtaining the King's ap- 
probation and sanction of such reasonable proposi- 
tions as may be offered; and, as the credit of the 
Honourable Company has not, of late years, been, 
properly supported in this country, it is my desire 
to form in Mocha an establishment more suitable 
to their extended concerns, and more becoming the 
dignity of the British Nation. 

I conceive it may be useful, even in this early 
stage of the negociation, to propose to the Imaurri 
a contract for a mutual interchange of the produc- 
tions of our respective countries ; the detail of 
which will be adjusted according to existing cir- 
cumstances, and may be carried to any extent agree- 
able to him. At present he professes it to be con- 
trary to the usage of his state for himself to enter 
into commercial engagements ; but this I consider 
merely a point of etiquette, which you will find no 
difficulty in arranging with the Minister. 

The sanction thus obtained, will afford the fairest 
pretext for introducing into the ports of this sea a 
sufficient proportion of merchandize to purchase 
the greatest part of the coffee of Yumun ; which, 
however desirable the object, must not be publicly 
avowed as the basis of our views. The most ad- 
vantageous light in which this subject can be 
placed, will be, that jou should acquaint the Mi- 
nister, that his Excellency is so anxious to convince 
the Imaum of his great and high respect for him, 
and so desirous of cementing the ties of that amity 

which 



139 

which has so long and happily subsisted between 
them, that he is willing to supply the demands of 
the Imaum, and of his territories, with every article 
of European and Indian production on the most 
moderate terms ; receiving, in exchange, coffee 
and drugs, or any other articles of traffic found in 
Yumun. v 

You are perfectly acquainted with the considera- 
tions which have induced me to defer my visit to 
Sunna; and, I doubt not, on your properly ex- 
plaining them, should the intentions of that court 
be as friendly as we have reason to suppose, that 
you will be enabled to induce the King's Son, or 
the Vizier, to meet me at Yb or Taiz, both to pay 
due respect to the Embassy which I have the ho- 
nour to conduct, and finally to settle every political 
or commercial arrangement, previous to my de- 
parture. 

I have annexed several memoranda regarding the 
customs of this port, and some other points which 
appear to require modification ; and you will use 
your utmost extertions to have them settled in an 
honourable and advantageous manner for our na- 
tion, which deserved so well of all Arabia, particu- 
larly in the last brilliant and decisive campaign. 

The Presents sent by Captain Wilson and Doc- 
tor Pringle so far exceed in value those which I 
have brought from Calcutta, that I think.it neces- 
sary to authorize you to present, in as delicate a 
way as possible, to the amount of 1000 or 2000 

t % sequins 



140 
sequins to the Vizier and principal Officers of the 
court of Sunna. You will distribute it in the man- 
ner which you may deem most conducive to the at- 
tainment of our wishes ; and I have the most full 
conviction that this sum, well applied, will have 
more effect than all the presents with which you 
are entrusted. 

In my several conversations with you on the sub- 
ject of Yumun and the Red Sea, I have so fully ex- 
plained to you the various objects in agitation, that 
I think it unnecessary to state them to you farther 
in writing ; but I rest assured, that you will exert 
every effort to facilitate their accomplishment. 

My Letter, which you will convey to the Imaum, 
informs him of the reason for my not proceeding 
immediately ; and you will use your endeavours to 
satisfy his mind on the subject. 

I expect that your first dispatch from Sunna will 
find me at Taiz, or Yb ; and I rest assured that you 
will omit no opportunity of acquainting me with 
your proceedings, and the success likely to attend 
them. 

I recommend to you the utmost dispatch which 
the weather and mode of travelling will allow ; the 
season being now so far advanced, as to render every 
hour's delay of importance. 

I am, Sir, 
your most obedient humble Servant, 

(Signed) Home Popham. 

MEMO- 



141 



MEMORANDA ATTACHED TO ME. ELLIOTT^ IN- 
INSTHUCTIONS. 

All French traders in this port pay to the Go- 
vernment a duty of two and a quarter per cent, en 
exports and imports ; while the English, in com- 
mon with every other European nation, are charged 
three per cent, on the same.* 

The moderate and conciliating measures which 
the British have ever used with the Imaum, and the 
real services which they have done to all Arabia, 
contrasted with the harsh conduct on the part of 
the French, which obtained for them this immu- 
nity, afford a reasonable presumption, that the 
duty exacted on British merchandize may be re- 
duced to two per cent. 

Any subject of this Government, purchasing 
Surat piece-goods of an Englishman, pays a duty 
of five per cent, to the Dola ; thereby making the 
whole impost^ to which the British are liable for 
these articles, eight percent. The intention is to 
encourage the Surat Merchants, by preventing us 
from bringing their goods to the market at a 
cheaper rate than themselves are able to do. 

A British subject importing coffee to any place 
beyond the Red Sea, excepting Busra, pays three 
per cent. duty. If he sends it to Busra, a further 
duty is exacted of one dollar for every ten Frazil 

* This was settled when the French fired on the town, to 
recover a debt. 

bales ; 



142 

oales ; and if up the Gulph, the Arab duty is charg- 
ed seven per cent, 

.Every Arab subject purchasing of an English- 
man any kind of grain, pays to the Dola four mea- 
sures from every bag of forty measures, that is ten 
per cent.; which, with the duty paid on its impor- 
tation, three per cent, renders the whole sum ac- 
tually charged to the British trader thirteen per 
cent. The subterfuge, by which it is pretended 
that three per cent, only is received from British 
Merchants, is in this instance too gross to deceive. 
The Imaum will possibly assert his right to tax 
his own subjects as he pleases; but these are ma- 
nifest instances in which the entire impost falls 
upon the English, and not upon his subjects. It 
will not be amiss to inform the Imaum of the Com- 
mercial Treaty which I have made with the Pacha 
of Egypt ; by which every kind of British merchan- 
dize, or merchandize under the British Flag, im- 
posted into Suez, is liable to a duty of three per 
cent, and on no consideration more. The Pacha 
was fully convinced of the inexpediency and injus- 
tice of those underhand proceedings, by which so 
many exactions had been made ; and wisely re- 
solved to increase the trade of the port, by correct- 
ing the abuses which had till then prevailed. 

When drug's and other articles are brought. from 
the opposite shores, the Abyssinians will not land 
them, on account of the heavy duties ; consequent- 
ly the English arc obliged to purchase them afloat, 

paying 



143 

paying the Arab duty of nine per cent, and after- 
wards the English duty of three per cent, on their 
exportation. 

We have it in our power to smuggle these goods ; 
but our present object is solely to obtain those 
commercial privileges which we have a right to ex- 
pect, and which are, in fact, verbally held out to us. 

The British Factory is in a very ruinous state ; 
and it is desirable either to procure another house 
of equal size, or to obtain the^Imaum's permission 
for building a new one. If this should not be al- 
lowed, there are a number of nuisances near the 
factory, which I wish to have removed ; and if we 
may purchase the ground on which the ruinous 
walls stand, with that of the Dola's stables and 
public gaol, and add it to the factory, it will render 
that residence sufficiently commodious. 

It being my intention, as you have seen in your 
instructions, to appoint a Resident here, it will be 
proper to obtain the Imaum's consent for a suitable 
guard to remain, consisting of fifty men ; which 
will of course be occasionally relieved or exchanged. 

The custom practised here, of not permitting 
Europeans to ride past the Dola's house, and any 
other degradations to which Europeans are liable, 
must be very particularly noticed by you, and re- 
moved if possible. 

In return for any advantages which the Imaum 
may be disposed to grant, I have it in my power to 
furnish him with fire-arms and ammunition of all 

kinds, 



144 

kinds, and in any quantity ; and even, in case of 
necessity, to assist him with a body of men, on his 
paying their charges. 

I will also, if he should manifest a favourable dis- 
position to comply with our demands, send a gun- 
boat along the coast of Yumun, and destroy every 
nest of pirates to be found there : if he should de- 
sire this, it will be necessary for him to send per- 
sons, properly qualified, to point out the pirates; 
and they will be received on board the gun-boat, 
and paid every possible respect. 

(Signed) Home Popham. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
GUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAP- 
TAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH 
POSSESSIONS IN THE EAST, &C. &C 

FORT WILLIAM. 

Mocha, July 26, 1802. 
MY LORD, 

I have already had the honour to acquaint your 
Lordship with the reasons that induced me to ac- 
cept the invitation of the Pacha of Egypt to visit 
Cairo ; and while I congratulate myself on the re- 
sult, which will enable me to offer my sentiments 
very fully on every subject connected with India, I 
cannot resist expressing, in the most grateful terms, 
a sense of his Highness's attentions on this occa- 
sion ; — not only by sending an Officer of his house- 
hold, with a troop of dromedaries and many led 

horses, 



145 

horses, to Suez, but his particular reception when I 
had the honour of visiting him at his palace. 

Our Correspondence about the Duties and Pre- 
sents at the port of Suez has been already trans- 
mitted to your Lordship ; and the Pacha has no 
doubt but his opinion, which is therein stated, will 
be confirmed at Constantinople : — 

" That Egypt must be considered, in every re- 
spect, as part of the dominions of the Sublime 
Porte; included in all its treaties, and subject to 
the rules, customs, and exactions which they con- 
tain." 

This decision appeared to me to be so correct, 
that I had no hesitation in urging the Pacha to 
send an order for the Dola of Suez to carry into 
effect the Treaty of Adrianople, with any British 
ship which might arrive previous to his receiving 
the commands of his Imperial Majesty on this 
head : I also pressed him to communicate to the 
Dola the Thirty-seventh Article of the Treaty; 
which I take the liberty of inserting here, from its 
operation on some points which will be discussed 
in the course of this Letter :— - 

" The English Merchants, and all others who 
shall be under the colours of England, may freely 
and safely traffic and trade in Aleppo, Cairo, Scio, 
Smyrna, and in all places of our dominions, pay- 
ing, according to the ancient custom, three per 
cent, for all merchandizes, and no more," 

After my first voyage to the Red Sea, I had the 
u honour 



honour of submitting to your Lordship some poli- 
tical and commercial ideas with respect to Arabia ; 
but I hope I perfectly explained how incompetent 
I felt to write conclusively on the subject, without 
more local knowledge than I could obtain in the 
short time I was there, especially as I was obliged 
to devote the greatest part of my attention to the 
Indian Army, to facilitate, as far as lay in my power, 
its march across the Desart ; and it was utterly im- 
possible to offer any specific arrangement or pro- 
position until the fate of Egypt was determined, as 
the leading feature of every calculation on this in^ 
teresting subject. 

The possessions of the Company have become so 
extensive, by the extraordinary acquisition of terri- 
tory, that it has long ceased to be considered simply 
as a Commercial Body ; and the success which has 
attended a more enlightened Government, mani- 
fested the propriety of viewing it as a vast empire, 
in the exercise of all the collateral branches of such 
an administration. 

Previous to this war, Egypt, in its political appli- 
cation, was esteemed merely as a channel of corre- 
spondence to India ; though, on occasions of great 
personal advantage, it has been used as the shortest 
route by some individuals ; but those who have 
written on the subject knew so little of its. resources, 
and held those of the Red Sea in so contemptible 
a light, that it was long considered a most specula- 
tive key to our Indian possessions. We are con- 
vinced.. 



14? 
vinced, however, by experience, that it is not only 
a very possible, but may, if neglected, and in the 
event of another war, become an immediate point 
of descent, under information and advantages 
which, on the present occasion, our enemies did 
not possess. 

Mr. Dundas, who has so ably and successfully 
presided over the administration of the Company's 
affairs for many years, and who has wrought con- 
viction on every individual mind, not only in Eng- 
land but in Europe, how rich and important the 
object is to Great Britain, — has particularly re- 
commended, that every accessible avenue to it 
should be watched with a most jealous eye ; and I 
conceive it obvious, from the circumstances which 
gave„rise to so pointed a recommendation, that the 
view of this inimitable Statesman was directed to 
the Red Sea. The concurrence of such authority 
with an opinion which I have long endeavoured to 
establish, urges me to enter into every detail con- 
nected with the question before your Lordship. 

The first consideration on this subject, is the 
Commerce, Navigation, and Tonnage of the Red 
Sea; on which your Lordship has already been able 
to collect such ample information from other people, 
that 1 shall solely cCnfme myself to the points of 
those objects which are absolutely necessary to elu- 
cidate, in general terms, all the principles of my 
proposition. 

The trade of Arabia, as confined to the Gulph, 
v 2 or 



148 
or more properly speaking, the Home Trade of 
the Red Sea, is carried on between the Arabians 
and Abyssinians, no other description of people 
being employed in the navigation of the tonnage 
which transports the production of each coast for 
the opposite markets : but the exterior trade is in- 
creasing in x\rabian bottoms, not only from Jud- 
dah, but Muscat, and other places; aided, in many 
instances, by capitals from native houses, residing 
under the protection of the British Presidencies. 

The two principal, and I may say almost the 
only ports from whence the whole coast of Arabia, 
comprehended in the more northern part of the 
Red Sea, is supplied with corn, are Suez and Cos- 
sier. The other places on the coast of Abyssinia, 
though enjoying some commerce, are too inconsi- 
derable to notice ; nor are they in a situation for 
an enemy to derive advantage from their tonnage, 
if even the approach to the coast was less intricate 
and dangerous than it really is. 

In this state of dependence on Egypt for corn, 
and the interchange of Arabian commodities, a 
great portion of tonnage is employed which might 
be applicable to the purposes of an enemy in ano* 
ther war, if some mode is not adopted to reduce 
it imperceptibly, by the introduction of British ves- 
sels of a particular description, that will be here- 
after noticed in the more detailed establishment 
which I shall submit to your Lordship's considera* 
lion. This would make the natives less anxious 

to 



149 
to build large dows ; which are the only class I 
am apprehensive may be used to our prejudice. 

It is very difficult to ascertain the quantity of 
wheat and other grain supplied from Egypt, as 
there are a variety of impositions in the manifest 
exhibited by the Exporters at the Custom-houses 
of Suez and Cossier ; but, on a moderate calcula- 
tion, there is scarce ever less than twenty thousand 
tons which is sent to the coast between Yambo 
and Camfida ; Loheia, Hodeida, and Mocha re- 
ceive their wheat and cusscuss (which is the staple 
food of the lower class) from the interior part of 
the country ; and any deficiency which may arise 
from a bad season is supplied by the ships from 
India, which bring grain for the upper part of the 
Gulph. 

The natives, however, prefer the Egyptian wheat, 
owing, I imagine, to its being fresher ; but they 
always depend on their supply of rice from India, 
which probably at Mocha seldom exceeds two 
thousand bags. 

The kingdom of Yemen is so happy in its pro- 
duction of coffee, that little attention is paid to the 
cultivation of any other articles. The crops vary 
according to the seasons, — as it is an uncertain 
plant in its several stages of vegetation, previous to 
the berry being completely set. I understand, 
however, that the annual produce is seldom any 
less than 36,000 Mocha bahars (which is about 
8Q00 tons) and not more than 50,000; therefore 

we 



150 

we may calculate the average at t t X 
thirds of this, at least, is sent up the Gulph for the 
Egyptian and European markets: the remainder 
goes to India, Muscat, and occasionally by Ameri- 
can or other foreign vessels which come to Mocha 
for a complete cargo ; and these may be estima 
on an average, at two or three ships a year., 

I have only touched on the staple articles which 
employ the home Red Sea tonnage ; but there are 
gums, drugs, and other commodities which may 
be included in the general productions of Arabia 
and Abyssinia, and will form a very valuable part 
of the export commerce of the Gulph. 

I have not, nor do I conceive it necessary to ad- 
vance one argument in proof of the advantage 
which India will derive from a commercial inter- 
course with this country, for testimonies and evi- 
dences exist in every Presidency; and, I believe, 
the records of the Custom-house at Calcutta will 
satisfy your Lordship, that bullion, to the amount 
of twenty lacks at least, has been annually entered 
at that port; and a much greater proportion has 
been sent to Surat and Bombay ; from whence I 
observe, in the Bombay correspondence, that seventy 
lacks of rupees have been annually exported here 
from Surat, But the trade having been principally 
carried on by the natives of the latter place, who 
never insure, they have been materially hurt by the 
war, as -the French have captured some of their 
most valuable ships. 

From 



151 
From a knowledge of these circumstances, it 
remains with your Lordship to decide on the policy 
and expediency of taking the trade entirely into 
ands of the Company, or modifying it in 
such a manner that the public connection shall be 
strengthened, and the progress of the Arabian ton- 
j .. be completely checked. This, in my opinion, 
- first political object ; and, on that account, 
r endeavoured to furnish your Lordship with 
such information as becomes absolutely necessary 
for the discussion of the point in all its relations, 
in order that you may judge whether the consi- 
derations which may be derived from the success- 
: ; 3uoof this project, are adequate to the con- 
sequent calculations of carrying it into«effect. 

I have canvassed this subject in every possible 
form ; and I am still disposed to think, that the 
direct trade between India and this Gulph should 
be exclusively in the hands of the Company; though 
I am aware that individuals may object to a public 
monopoly, from a general prejudice to the term, 
without considering how much the Company will 
be benefitted by its successful application in the 
present instance; — and if the Legislature, in its 
conviction of the sound policy of the measure, has 
thought fit to renew the Charter of the East India 
Trade, for the good of the nation at large, I hope 
no objection will exist in this respect to the adop- 
tion of a principle sanctioned by such authority, 

when 



152 
when the interests which it means to protect are so 
materially involved in the question. 

I expressed an apprehension, in some of the Let* 
ters I had the honour to write to your Lordship 
from Suez, that if the trade of this Gulph was not 
kept either in the hands of the Company or parti- 
cularly restricted, so many speculators would en- 
gage in it on the first news of the Definitive Treaty 
being signed, as to overstock the markets in such 
a manner, that the English would become com- 
petitors against each other ; and consequently re- 
duce the price, procrastinate the returns, and ulti- 
mately ruin all the adventurers. Instances of this 
kind have occurred on former occasions ; and they 
may be attended with such misunderstandings as 
may eventually call for the serious interference of 
Government. 

It also strikes me as a matter of importance, that 
the exports from India should, in the first instance, 
be confined to the eastern coast of Africa, Abyssinia, 
Arabia, Egypt, and the neighbouring countries. 
Though, I think, it may become a question for the 
most serious discussion, as involving a variety of 
considerations, Whether, 'while- this intercourse is 
open, and that the good-will and attention of the 
Turks are alive to the British in Egypt, there should 
not be a sufficient quantity of goods, adapted to 
Italy and the south of France, sent by this con- 
veyance, to lower the markets, previously to the 

return 



153 

return of the first speculations from Marseilles, 
Leghorn, Genoa, and other ports in the Mediter- 
ranean ? which will materially repress their ardour 
for foreign enterprize; and as the ships will be 
chiefly manned by French, and fitted by French 
capitals, it will be checking a branch of commerce 
which has been always considered the best school 
for the formation of their sailors. But even if the 
first Commercial Proposition be all that can be at- 
tended to, it will give employment to a certain 
number of our sailors, and a portion of tonnage 
which, after this extraordinary war, is so unexam- 
pled in its extent, that it becomes an essential act 
of Government to consider of every mode to en* 
courage its mercantile intercourses. 

Having explained to your Lordship the principal 
Interior commerce of the Red Sea, and the mode 
of conducting it, and offered my opinion on the ex* 
pediency of keeping the trade from India to the 
Gulph exclusively in the hands of the Company, 
and profiting of every advantage to do away some 
of the Arab tonnage and to substitute English, — ■ 
I shall now take the liberty of submitting the sta- 
tions to which Residents ought to be appointed, 
the number of vessels requisite to accomplish the 
proposed scheme, their establishments, and every 
other point which strikes me as essential to enable 
yonr Lordship to form a judgment on the subject* 

There are several reasons which induce me to 
recommend Cairo as the first seat of our Political 

x and 



154 

and Commercial Establishment for the Red Sea. 
It is the emporium of Egypt, and the residence of 
the richest men in the country : — it is centrally 
situated; and its facility of communication by water 
with Abyssinia, the interior of Africa, the southern 
parts of Europe and Turkey, give it a decided pre- 
eminence for the latter consideration ; and the 
same reasons operate in favour of its political ad- 
vantages, as I do not apprehend any intrigue can 
possibly be carried on by a French Agent, likely to 
affect the interests of Great Britain, except at Cairo, 
or within the knowledge of our connections in that 
place. 

For several years there has been little or no re- 
venue collected from the Foreign Trade at Cairo; 
but it has been known to amount to 20,000,000 
dollars annually, particularly after the conclusion 
of last war. The English have enjoyed very little 
of this trade since the plunder of the caravan in 

1779- 

A variety of projects, however, have been sub- 
mitted, both at home and in India, for placing it 
on a permanent and increasing footing ; and the 
Court of Directors have frequently urged the point 
with much interest, though, I believe, the preca- 
rious administration of the Beys, and their uncer- 
tain and rapacious exactions, rendered it impossible 
to calculate on the duration or inviolability of any 
Treaty entered into with them. Such obstacles no 
longer exist ; and the countenance shewn to the- 

French, 



155 
French, on former occasions, of which they pro- 
fited by the introduction of their Languedoc cloths 
and other European articles, may be almost com- 
manded by us, and eventually operate, by our 
superior capitals and exertions, to exclude them 
from any participation of the trade of Egypt. But 
setting the imports from Europe to the Mediter- 
ranean aside, — for a second position, I submit, 
Whether the enjoyment of the Red Sea Trade, and 
the exports from India to Egypt, do not promise 
advantages sufficient to i iduce your Lordship's 
taking immediate measures for carrying this part 
into execution ? 

The appointments for Cairo should, in my humble 
opinion, consist of a Resident, two Assistants, a 
Surgeon, and the necessary Native Clerks. Their 
salaries should be more liberal than probably is 
given on similar occasions; but under such restric- 
tions, in regard to the commercial operations of 
the Company, as will solely confine their attention 
to the objects under consideration in that Establish- 
ment; and as it is my intention to make a calcula- 
tion of the actual expences to be incurred, and the 
probable profits which may be obtained, I shall es- 
timate the standing expences of each factory, which 
will be brought forward in the general view that 
I intend to annex to this Letter. 

As Cairo is a place where the representative 
character of the Company should have more than 
ordinary consequence attached to him, I do not 

x 2 think 



156 

think a less sum than 5000 rupees a month salary, 
and 4000 for table-money, requisite for the mis- 
sion, with house-rent and public servants paid, 
which, including interpreters, will not exceed 1000 
rupees a month. The other part of the Establish- 
ment may be included in 4000 ; consequently the 
whole expence will be 14,000 rupees a month. I 
have mentioned two Assistants for this station, as 
it will frequently be necessary that one should at- 
tend the duty at the port of Suez ; and as the jour- 
ney across the Desart is now made with so much 
facility, it will scarcely be considered any trouble 
to undertake ir. 

Although I have gone so far in my estimate of 
expences for Cairo, under the impression that any 
trifling objections or irregularity may be set aside, 
yet I am aware that the Turkey Company may say, 
<6 The appointment of Consul at Cairo is vested in 
us ; and we shall protest against any person of 
superior character residing there." But I contend, 
that this <is a great national object, and of more 
consideration than the Turkey Company alto- 
gether. 

It may also be asserted, that as the Beys objected 
to the importation of coffee, except on Arab bot- 
toms, that the existing Government will do the 
same. I had, however, occasion to know the con- 
trary ; as a reference was made to me, with an 
application from the Proprietor of some coffee, to 
grant a certificate, which would relieve him of 

certain 



J 57 

certain charges, in addition to the fixed duty of 
three per cent.; but as there was an evident irre- 
gularity on the part of the British Merchant, I de- 
clined interfering. 

The duration of the Government of the Beys was 
so very uncertain, that each, to improve the advan- 
tage of the moment, increased the taxes on coffee, 
as the most staple article of commerce, to such an 
extent, that the trade was very nearly ruined : but 
an established Government must see, that excessive 
taxation of any article will eventually lessen, in- 
stead of increasing that revenue which is expected 
to be derived from it. 

I feel very anxious that this Establishment should 
take place at Cairo in its fullest extent. I have a 
variety of convictions that it will ultimately secure 
us from any expedition of the French against our 
Indian possessions by the Red Sea Certainly so, 
as long as the Porte continues its alliance with us; 
and if even that should cease at the expiration o£ 
ten years, impediments may have arisen, by our re- 
sidence and improved connection with the country, 
that will offer insurmountable obstacles to the pro- 
gress of any such enterprize. 

I do not apprehend that the introduction into 
Arabia of a great quantity of grain from India, will 
materially hurt the farmers in Egypt, as they have 
always an export by the Mediterranean to some 
parts of Barbary, and every part of Turkey. But 
the second consideration, of applying to the ports 

of 



158 

of Cossier and Suez, is the return of coffee and In- 
dian manufactures, which may always be had in the 
Company's warehouses at Cairo ; consequently no 
complaints will exist in Egypt against this proposi- 
tion : on the contrary, the lower class of Merchants 
will profit by it, as the goods from India would be 
considerably cheaper, and the Arab tonnage so im- 
perceptibly lessened, that it would be some time 
before the aggregate evil might be noticed ; and 
then the people originally employed in that line, 
would be fixed in other occupations, and not con- 
sider it an object to renew their former line of em- 
ployment. 

In a political point of view, another very great 
consideration would attach to this Commercial 
Establishment : the Bedouins, who are the princi- 
pal camel-owners, and only carriers across the De- 
sart, would in course of time be so completely un- 
der the management of the Residents in Egypt, 
that I imagine no difficulty would exist in persuad- 
ing them to drive all their camels and cattle, on 
our account, to the shores of the Red Sea, on the 
iirst debarkation of an enemy; and if some extra- 
ordinary measures are not adopted, the French will 
certainly invade Egypt again, whenever a war takes 
place. By this means, however, the passage across 
the Desart would be rendered almost impracticable; 
and the Indian Army, on its arrival in the Red Sea, 
could be amply provided with every thing it might 
want. 

But 



159 

Bat admitting that the Porte should incline to 
favour the designs of the French, and give them 
every facility to cross the Desart, how are they to 
effect a passage down the Red Sea, when none but 
British vessels are upon it ? and what assistance 
can they hope for in Arabia, when the greater part 
of that country has insensibly become dependent 
on India for grain, and must of necessity be, in 
many respects, under our controul ? 

These, my Lord, are some additional arguments 
to favour the establishment proposed ; and if I am 
ultimately fortunate enough to prove that this se- 
curity to our India possessions, from the very vul- 
nerable point of the Red Sea, can be obtained with- 
out any expence to the Company, and that your 
Lordship should see it in the same point of view, I 
trust that concessions may be thought of, and that 
policy will induce us to make them tantamount to 
any objections which may arise at the Court of 
Constantinople. 

Although Cossier, which is the next place to 
Suez of any consequence in Egypt, exports a very 
considerable quantity of corn, and takes in return a 
proportion of coffee and Indian manufactures, yet 
I do not think it necessary to have a Resident 
there, except on the apprehension of a war, when 
one of the Assistants may be sent to collect camels 
and cattle for any exigency which may arise ; the 
Commander of the vessels which carry up the ar- 
ticles 



i6o 

tides for that market, can attend to all the neOes~ 
sary duties of the transaction. 

The next place of notice, after Cossier, in coming 
down the Gulph, is- certainly Juddah ; and under 
the administration of any other person but the pre* 
sent Sheriffe, 1 do not apprehend the least difficulty 
in forming a very intimate connection. The prin- 
cipal people appear to me to be anxious that some 
regular treaty should be entered into with the She- 
riffe, as the only probable prospect of their being 
emancipated from the severity of his commercial 
impositions ; but as I have already had the honour 
of informing your Lordship, in my Letter on this 
subject from Juddah, I had it intimated to me that 
there was little chance of such a negociation taking 
place, unless he was in imminent danger, from the 
arrival of a large Turkish force. This indeed was 
very evident, by the difference of his conduct while 
the Pacha and his few troops were in Juddah, and 
after he had poisoned him, and sent them away ; 
but I have no doubt of his feeling, in a very essen- 
tial manner, the effect of this establishment, if it 
should take place to the extent of my proposition ; 
for when the pilgrims, in collecting at Cairo for the 
great, caravan, find that a sufficient quantity of In- 
dian goods of every quality can be obtained from 
the Company's warehouses at that place, they will 
never think of purchasing them at Mecca, with all 
the risk, trouble, and disadvantage of so long a 

land- 



i6i 

^and-carriage ; his revenues on the coffee will also 
be materially lessened ; for every dow that goes up 
to Suez is obliged to pay the following duties : 

At Goonfidah, six German crowns for every thir- 
teen bales. Duty inwards, at Juddab, one bak in 
kind for every twenty-four bales: duty outward, 
five German crowns for every bale ; and all the 
eoffee must be landed and weighed, to ascertain 
the duties, and re-shipped at the owner's expence.; ... 
which they estimated, with presents and charges, 
to amount to wear three per cent.; con sequentl} 7, 
the duties to which coffee is amenable in the She- 
riffe's port, in Arab bottoms, is twenty per cent.* 
calculating the bale at (380 lbs.) forty crowns, 
which is nearly the present price* I know the na- 
tives, in making their calculations, call the duties 
and port-charges at twenty-five per cent.; but as 
British ships are not subject to this, there becomes 
an absolute saving of twenty-five per cent, which, 
-on four or five cargoes of as many hundred tons 
each, would amount to a very considerable sum. 
Referring, however, to the importation from India 
for the Juddah market, I do not think it would be 
advisable to send any quantity of bale goods in the 
first instance; nor would I recommend any fixed 
Resident during the life of the present Sheriffe: 
but as the Arab ships, on a moderate calculation, 
carry 20,000 bags of riee annually, I think that 
quantity at least ought to be sent, with a view of 
underselling them, and lowering the price of soe&- 

y sen-tial 



162 

Scntial an article of life to the common people, who 
would materially feel the advantage to be derived 
from a commercial intercourse with the Company's 
ships. 

I shall not say any more at present on the sub- 
ject of the articles for the Juddah market, as a list 
of the proper exports from India, as well as the ex- 
ports of this country, will be annexed. 

The next place I take the liberty of submitting 
to your Lordship's notice is Loheia, not with a 
view of recommending any fixed Resident, as it 
must be under the controul of Mocha ; but from 
its contiguity to Betel Faikih, it may become ne- 
cessary to make some shipments of coffee there, as 
a saving probably of two or three dollars in a bale, 
and at particular seasons very likely more ; but the 
Resident at Mocha, as he becomes better acquaint- 
ed, will naturally take every advantage of this kind. 

Mocha has been established as the principal port 
of Yemen near five hundred years ; and the Arabs 
say it was the last place possessed by the Turks, 
who gave up every title to the sovereignty of the 
country for a valuable consideration ; but some 
historians assert they were driven out ; and since 
that time the Imaum has been looked upon as an 
independent prince. 

I am inclined to favour the idea of his being in- 
dependent of the Porte, as there is no person here 
from the Court of Constantinople, nor does the 
Jmaum pay a,ny tribute to the Grand Seignior ; and 

vvhcij 



ids 

when I spoke to the Pacha of Egypt on the subject^ 
he appeared to have much difficulty in solving the 
question, though he conceived, in general terms* 
that all the shores of the Red Sea were, more or 
less, under the sovereignty of his Imperial Master; 
It is a place of very considerable trade; and, inde- 
pendent of its staple article of coffee, it has lately 
enjoyed a great intercourse with Abyssinia, and 
some of the small ports on the coast of Africa ; not 
from any exertion or provident regulation on the 
part of the Imaum, but from the total decline of 
the trade at Aden. I was astonished to learn that 
upwards of 3000 bales of gum-arabic Were annu- 
ally imported from the neighbourhood of Bunder 
Felix : the other articles which it obtains from the 
opposite coast, are myrrh, aloes, dragon's bloody 
frankincense, ivory, slaves, gold dust, and a small 
quantity of very fine coffee. 

From the value of these articles, and the extent 
to which any commercial intercourse might be car- 
ried, especially if your Lordship favours the idea of 
entering into a partial monopoly of the coffee trade, 
I think there should be, at least, three civil ser- 
vants on the establishment, including a Surgeon^ 
whose opinion, if he has any chemical knowledge, 
might be usefully employed in the selection of 
drugs. I do not apprehend much difficulty in the 
accomplishment of this project, either from the 
Court of Sunna, or the native merchants- and the 
y 2 present 



1(54 
present is certainly the most favourable moment, a$ 
there has been a constant residence and intercourse 
for these last five years. 

It will be policy to make annual presents to the 
Imaum, his family, the Vizier, and other Officers of 
the court, tantamount to the comparative estima- 
tion and views which the Company may have be- 
tween this country and Aden r if to these are added 
the presents for Loheia, Hodeida, and Mocha, with 
the general expence of the establishment at the 
latter place, the whole may amount to- a lack and 
]■ 0,000 rupees a year. 

The exports from Calcutta and Bombay to this 
place 1 for the supply of the interior and the Abyssi- 
nian Merchants, has been about ten* lacks of dollars 
annually ; viz. Bengal, two lacks; Surat, five lacks; 
gruff goods from Malabar, one lack - T and two lacks 
from Guzurat, principally consisting of dungerries.> 

The exports from Surat to Juddah varies very 
considerably, and has been lately from terr to eigh- 
teen lacks of dollars,* including the Malabar and 
Guzurat goods; and from Bengal to Juddah, the 
exports have been from one and a half to three 
lacks of dollars. Consequently, taking the mean 
of all the estimated exports from India, h will 
amount to twenty- seven lacks of dollars; and 1 
understand that in time of peace the exports from 
Bengal will be considerably increased, though pro- 
jbably not in such a proportion from the coast of 

Malabar, 



105 

Malabar, for that was in 3 greater ratio during the 
war, as the risk was much less from that coast to 
the Gulph of Arabia than from Bengal. 

The articles that go to Judd,ah are for the mar- 
kets of Mecca and Medina during the Hadge ; 
but, as I before observed, it is rational to suppose, 
when the Pilgrims, on their collecting at Cairo, 
find they can procure the goods they want at a 
cheaper rate there than at Mecca, they will natu- 
rally avoid the trouble, risk, and extraordinary ex- 
pence of carriage from Mecca to Cairo, and supply 
themselves on their return. 

The profit which the Arabs calculate on their 
Indian merchandize is from thirty to eighty per 
cent. : — last year they got more. 

As I am desirous to increase the trade by annual 
progression till it arrive at the limits of our wishes^ 
I would recommend that only eight lacks of rupees 
in goods should be sent here the first year, and 
twelve lacks to Cairo, beside the coffee purchased 
at Mocha : After which the Commercial Resident 
will be enabled to give your Lordship such a com- 
plete estimate of the consumption of Indian manu* 
factures, and the productions of coffee and drugs 7 
that a most accurate calculation can be made of the 
probable profits which the Company may derive, 
and the expediency of increasing or diminishing 
their commercial concerns with this Gulph. 

Whatever coffee is purchased beyond the sale of 
the Indian investment at Mocha must be paid for 

in 



J 66 
in dollars out of the produce of the Company's 
sales at Cairo, as the returns of the investment to 
Egypt will principally be made in gold and silver ; 
for the articles which that market may offer for 
India will be of very inconsiderable value compara- 
tively with the investments sent there ; and it will 
be extreme policy to make every return in bullion 
to the Presidencies in India. 

That I may the better be enabled to make my 
general estimate of the establishment proposed, I 
must take a specific quantity of coffee (say 14,000 
bahars) for the first year's purchase, which may be 
increased according to the discretion of the Com- 
mercial Resident, or the more direct orders from 
India ; 2000 bahars may probably be ordered to 
India, and the remainder sent to Egypt. This is 
the only article of export which I shall mention at 
present ; for although I am satisfied that a great 
profit will arise from the judicious purchase of 
drugs, yet I shall confine myself to the staple com- 
modities, as affording a more certain price, by which 
alone it is possible to form any just calculations. 

The next and last place to which my attention 
is called, is to the port of Aden ; and I feel a con- 
siderable embarrassment in the discussion of this 
subject, after the conclusive manner in which Ad- 
miral Blankett gave his opinion to the Govern- 
ment of Bombay against the place as a naval station. 
I must, however, differ in some points from that 
respectable authority, in his comparative statements 

of 



167 
of Aden and Mocha, in giving the last such a de- 
cided preference as a roadstead ; which he says is 
so open, that it can be entered at all times of the 
night. That you may do so coming from the 
northward is very certain., especially in the north- 
erly monsoon ; but it is impossible in the southerly 
monsoon, which blows, without scarcely any inter- 
mission, from the middle of October to the middle 
of May ; and so violent, that in hauling round the 
west bank, which can only be done by seeing the 
great mosque (the leading mark) with any certainty 
of fetching into the road, ships are frequently re- 
duced to their courses ; and there is so great a sea, 
that the communication with the shore is often cut 
off for several days ; and when the wind comes to 
the northward during this monsoon, it is in general 
attended with a violent gale :-^-as was the case this 
year, when an Arab ship foundered at her anchors, 
and every person but two perished : and the Nep- 
tune parted three cables ; and on bringing up with 
the fourth anchor, she tailed on the southern reef, 
knocked off her rudder, and was obliged to throw 
overboard part of her cargo, to save the ship. I 
have been at Aden in both monsoons ; but never 
experienced such blowing weather as I have in 
Mocha roads. The water at Aden is far prefer- 
able,-— it is really good; and the Mocha water is 
the worst in the Red Sea. in regard to other sup- 
plies, Dr. Pringle has no doubt of the advantages 
at Aden, both for an army and navy; particularly 

in 



168 

in the articles of vegetables and fish. He was 
some months at Aden., and many more at Mocha. 

The Back Bay has been described to -me very 
different from the view which Admiral Blankett 
had of it. The Jehangier, a ship of near 1000 
tons, lay there several months; and the Comman- 
der assured me he never was in a safer place. But 
that this point may be completely ascertained, I 
have sent an Officer to survey it ; and I intend, 
when I go out of the Red Sea, to anchor there in the 
Romney, for the purpose of giving a final opinion 
to your Lordship from my own personal observa- 
tions on the spot. At present, what I offer is prin* 
ci pally from the information of others ; and, pro- 
bably, to a greater extent than was obtained by Ad. 
miral Blankett, otherwise I am inclined to think 
he would not have given so decided a negative to 
the use of this port. 

In the various papers on the subject of this place, 
which were transmitted to me by the Government 
of Bombay, I had the honour to read your Lord- 
ship's Letter in Council, fully describing the offer 
of the Sultan of Aden in its severel commercial, 
military, and political relations; but as I observe 
that offer went almost to the complete abdication 
of the place in favour of the English, accompanied, 
according to my conception of his meaning, by an 
offensive and defensive alliance, I trust I shall be 
excused, if I submit the expediency of a modified 
Treaty, not on the remotest presumption of dif. 

fere nee 



In- 
ference with Vour Lordship in sentiment, under 
circumstances of that moment,- — but on the grounds 
that our views have been materially altered, and 
our game highly improved by the succession of for- 
tunate events, since the date of that Letter. 

Aden was formerly the niost opulent town ia 
Arabia, and particularly countenanced by the Turk- 
ish Government ; but after the Turks were driven 
out of the country by the Imaum's forces, he very 
properly saw the advantage which that port derived 
from its exclusive enjoyment of the Indian trade ; 
and managed, by much address, to persuade the 
principal Sheik of the Bedouins, in amity with the 
Sultan, to visit him at Sauna, where he was imme- 
diately put to death, and his adherents dispersed, 
who plundered so indiscriminately^ that the plan- 
ters could not send any more coffee by that route, 
and established the port of Hodeida ; and its suc- 
cess induced them to build Mocha, which has 
ultimately become the first port in Yemen. 

The revenues of the Sultan of Aden have gra- 
dually declined since that period ; and now prin- 
cipally rest on what is collected on the jouarry 
and other grain which is produced within his ter- 
ritory. He resides about twenty-five miles from 
Aden, in a retired manner, waiting, as it is very na- 
tural, the first favourable opportunity to improve 
his wrecked fortune. 

No moment ever occurred so suitable to his 
views as that which obliged the Ferim detachment 



z ta 



17 (y 

to place itself under his protection : and he seized 
it in the most sanguine manner, to form an inti- 
mate connection with the British Government. 
His hospitality is certainly unparalleled in this 
country ; but as self-interest is the leading principle 
of every Arab, I am always aware of a quid pro quo 
in any extraordinary instance of attention. His 
motives were, however, too obvious- to- doubt of his 
ultimate views in this connection ; but as I have 
always looked upon Aden as likely to lead to some 
permanent advantage, I have paid the strictest at- 
tention to it whenever I have had an opportunity ; 
and the question now is not, What are the motives 
of the Sultan in proposing a connection ? but ? 
What use can we make of his favourable disposi- 
tion ? and how can it be applied in our commercial 
and political views, as far as they relate to Arabia, 
Egypt, Abyssinia, and Africa ? 

With respect to his former concession to the 
Sublime Porte, I imagine it was dictated, on the 
principle of being congenial to our feelings in the 
intimate alliance which then existed : and I dare 
say he will have no difficulty in furnishing argu- 
ments to prove the contrary, if it were possible that 
a discussion of the subject of our connection could 
ever be entered into at Constantinople, which might 
be equally extended to every engagement with the 
Princes and Chieftains in both Gulphs-. 

I hope your Lordship will consider the topic of 
sovereignty and right to be so far removed from 

any 



m 

any apprehension on our part, that it will become 
unnecessary to trouble you with any researches on 
the subject, but to confine myself to the reasons 
which have induced me to dwell so long on the 
proposition of the Sultan of Aden ; which, I hope, 
will improve in your Lordship's opinion on a revi- 
sion of the subject under the present change of 
circumstances, and the addition of such informa- 
tion as I am enabled to lay before you at present, 
and which may probably be increased after my visit 
to that port. 

I will now take the liberty of stating my reasons 
in favour of Aden, both in a commercial and poli- 
tical point of view, but not to the prejudice of our 
objects of intercourse Gf Mocha : on the contrary, 
to improve them, though at the expence of the 
Government of Yemen. 

As a commercial port, it has manifest advantages 
over Mocha: it is accessible at all seasons of the 
year; and experience has shewn that ships, after 
having made a southern passage from India, have 
been from three weeks to six reaching Mocha; and 
one, after every attempt, was obliged to return to 
India. This happen.? from the middle of June to 
the end of August ; and it is equally difficult to 
obtain Aden from Mocha in November, December, 
January, February, and March. It has been found 
necessary to send our dispatch-vessels to lie in the 
back bay of Aden in the last-mentioned months, 
to receive the Packets from Egypt, which can be 
z 2 conveyed 



172 
conveyed in four clays overland ; and those vessels 
have been twenty-four in reaching it. By the, 
Streights of Babelmandel, its intercourse with 
the coast of Africa can be kept up at all sea- 
sons; and consequently there would be a con- 
tinued trade, if any protection was given to the 
Sultan by the Company, for he has not capital to 
re-establish his commerce ; and I am satisfied that 
the assistance which I shall submit as necessary to 
this unfortunate Prince, will ultimately prove of 
the greatest advantage to our settlements in India ; 
and although I have asserted that self-interest is 
the predominant passion of an Arab, I am inclined 
to think that his conduct on every occasion de- 
serves more than common notice. I have con- 
versed with several people in the most cautious 
manner, and I find every body anxious for the port 
of Aden, in preference to Mocha ; and there is no 
Prince of Arabia whose character stands so high 
with the independent Arabs of the coast as the 
Sultan of Aden. 

The exports and imports of Aden will be nearly 
the same as at the port of Mocha, though I imagine 
gum-arabic, and the other drugs which are brought 
from the opposite coast, owing to its contiguity, 
may be procured at a cheaper rate, exclusive of the 
difference in the duties. 

There are some few Merchants already settled 
there, who, although they have but little trade, en- 
joy a mild government; and, on that account, they 

do 



173 

do not move to Mocha : and I know others, of 
some consequence, who are watching the progress 
of our negociations, to settle there immediately, 
with all their families. Indeed, there appears a ge- 
neral conviction in the minds of the Arabs, that the 
natural advantages of Aden will make it a measure 
highly expedient in us to form an establishment 
there. 

The Sultan's Son has been some time with me; 
and I have just now sent him with the outlines of 
a treaty for his father's consideration. It goes, in 
a few words, to say, That the port of Aden shall 
be open to all British subjects, and every person 
trading under the British flag, on paying the fol- 
lowing duties on all goods imported or exported by 
them: viz. For the first five years after the signing 
of the Treaty, one per cent.; the second five years, 
two percent.; the third five years, three per cent.; 
and never to be raised higher, on pain of forfeiting 
the friendship and interest of the British Govern- 
ment. If these terms are accepted, I do not think 
it possible to advance any arguments which will 
render the advantages of the trade of the port of 
Aden at all problematical ; and I shall now take 
the liberty of stating a few political considerations, 
which may induce your Lordship to think conclu- 
sively in favour of cherishing the offers of amity 
and alliance which have been proposed in so san- 
guine a manner. 

I have already had the honour of informing your 

Lordship, 



174 ' 

Lordship, that the Nawab of Sural has endeavoured 
to persuade the Court of Sunna, that our views, in 
wishing to improve the present connection, are di- 
rected to the entire possession of Mocha ; and 
this, on the first impression, may probably induce 
the Imaum to attend to our propositions with ex- 
treme jealousy and caution ; though really, except 
a modification of some of the duties, little else is 
wanted, more than we enjoy, to carry in its fullest 
extent the proposed plan into execution; but when 
the Imaum sees we have entered into a treaty with 
the Sultan of Aden, and have given him counte- 
nance and protection, he will court our good-will 
with as much anxiety and interest as the Sultan has 
done ; and offer almost any terms to keep the ba- 
lance of connection in his favour. 

From the luxury and extravagance of the 
Imaum's court, he is continually in arrears to the 
Bedouin Sheiks, who inhabit the country about 
Sunna ; and they frequently threaten his capita!, 
which obliges him to have recourse to the most ar- 
bitrary exactions on the different towns in his do- 
minions ; and this conduct has occasioned a gene- 
ral discontent ; and very serious consequences are 
expected to arise from it. The Dola of Udden, 
which is the centre of all the coffee districts, has 
absolutely refused to repair to Sunna, under the 
most positive orders, from a conviction that his 
property will be confiscated the moment he arrives 
there. Such a defection in the richest part Gf his 

country 



175 
country will he more sensibly felt, when it is pub- 
licly known that a Treaty has been concluded with 
the Sultan of Aden, as Tais is not more than four 
days' journey from thence, and Udden five. 

The country bordering on the territories of Aden 
is still nearer that port ; and consequently many of 
the Coffee Planters will take that point of exporta- 
tion instead of Mocha. 

If I thought it necessary to advance any thing 
more which would induce your Lordship's atten- 
tion to decide on the enjoyment of this great com- 
mercial preponderance, I should submit the possibi- 
lity, though at a distant period, of some exertion 
on the part of the French Government to establish 
itself in this favourable situation, under the know- 
ledge that we have not accepted the Sultanas pro- 
position ; and while I intimate such an idea, I feel 
myself called upon to assert, in the most positive 
manner, That Aden is the strongest military posi- 
tion I have seen in Arabia ; and if possessed by the 
French during a war, they would have the means of 
blocking up the Red Sea till the arrival of a supe- 
rior force ; and at all times to annoy not only the 
trade there, but that of the whole Malabar coast, 
with more advantages than they have done from 
the Mauritius ; and if they were fixed for any time* 
and chose to improve their situation, I very much 
doubt, whether they could be displaced without a 
considerable force and an enormous expence. 

Under the presumption that the reasons I have 

offered. 



];5 

offered for an Establishment at Aden may satiifj 
you of the propriety of making it, I take the liberty 
of bringing forward the expence of such an esta- 
blishment ; which may be estimated for two civil 
servants at 50,000 rupees a year, including all 
charges ; and I should recommend, that about 
three lacks of investment be sent there the first 
year, till a more accurate judgment can be formed 
of its commercial capacity. 

I now come to the most formidable expence, 
which is the Marine Establishment for this service; 
but as it is intended not only for the purposes of 
commerce, but with the view of commanding re- 
spect here in time of peace, and as a preparative 
armament in case of war, I hope the loan of the 
Company to this undertaking, in its earliest in- 
fancy, for it really is but a loan, will not at all ope- 
rate against the plan, so as to turn the balance 
against the execution, if there is no political ob-* 
jeetion arising from circumstances with which 1 am 
not acquainted. 

Ten vessels, from (250 to 400 tons, built entirely 
as cruisers, with the greatest attention to their con* 
struction for sailing, as an essential quality in the 
Red Sea ; the larger ones to have only their gun- 
deck and a slight spar-deck laid : to have constantly 
mounted two long eighteen*pounder guns, and four 
or six thirty-two pound carronades, as the most 
certain mode of preventing any violation of Treaty 
or insult in this Gulph, and as a means of keep- 
ing 



177 
ing the crews in constant exercise in case of a war; 
and to provide against such a calamity, all the ves- 
sels might have in their hold half, or two-thirds, of 
the proportion of the guns they are to carry ; and 
by dismantling some, would enable us to command 
a certain number of efficient cruisers in a very few 
days, to meet any sudden exigency that might 
arise: and altl >i gh these vessels are in the first 
instance for commercial purposes, they might be 
officered in every respect as armed vessels ; and in- 
dependent of their Commissioned and Petty Offi- 
cers of every description, to have four European 
sailors for every 100 tons, and a sufficient number 
of Lascars, for the purpose of navigation. The 
larger vessels to have three Lieutenants and a Sur- 
geon ; and the smaller ones, two Lieutenants and 
a Surgeon's Mate. If it was possible to offer any 
terms of advantage for volunteers of a certain edu- 
cation, to act as Midshipmen, I think it would even- 
tually prove of much service to the Establishment. 
I cannot ascertain what the exact expence would 
be of these vessels, but, on a rude estimate, and 
taking them one with another, I should imagine 
80,000 rupees might complete them for sea : to 
this add 2,500 rupees a month, wages and provi- 
sions, and thirty per cent, on the block, and it will 
give the annual expence five lacks and 40,000. 
These vessels should sail in regular succession from 
India, from the beginning of October to the be- 
ginning of April, with such investments as may be 

a a pointed 



178 
pointed oat by the different Presidencies, to keep 
a succession of fresh supplies proportionate to the 
demands of the market after the intercourse has be- 
come perfectly established ; and they should sail 
for India from the middle of April to the end of 
August. During these months, one vessel should 
always be held in readiness at Suez, to carry any 
dispatches from England to India ; and the cer- 
tainty of the letters being delivered in India in 
three months at this season, and often in a much 
shorter time, should be strongly impressed on the 
Court of Directors, who might keep two fast sail- 
ing cutters ready in England, from April to July, 
to go direct to Alexandria ; by which means Let- 
ters may be delivered in Calcutta in two months, 
if the cutter has an expeditious passage ; for I am 
confident, particularly in May and June, that the 
average of the run from Suez to Bengal, with one 
of the vessels proposed, may be fairly estimated 
from twenty-eight to thirty- six days. This inter- 
course may also be extended to other objects, 
which at present it is unnecessary to notice : nor 
do I recommend this, in general terms, as a con- 
veyance from India to Europe, owing to the delays 
from the uncertainty of quarantine, but it may oc- 
casionally be used ; and in the months prescribed 
for sailing from India, it offers a fair chance for 
letters, — as they are only subject to being smoked, 
and not to the delay of quarantine. 

It is my intention that a portion of the vessels 

should 



should be kept in the Red Sea, for the internal na- 
vigation and commerce between Aden, Mocha, 
and Suez ; and by this arrangement they will go 
every other year to India, though I think half will 
not be able to bring all the gruff goods from India ; 
but when it is necessary to send a cargo of coffee 
from Mocha direct to England, there is nothing to 
prevent one of the Bengal ships sailing from thence 
with rice and sugar the beginning of October, and 
being dispatched from here by the middle of Ja- 
nuary; presuming that previous notice will be given 
to the Residents to prepare the cargo, that no de- 
lay may arise on that account. 

It may be necessary to have two or three large 
luggage-boats of from twenty to thirty tons, with 
grating-decks, and well-fitted with tarpaulins, to 
go off with cargoes from Mocha at all times in the 
southern monsoon ; and I believe this is the last 
item I shall have occasion to add to the Marine 
Establishment. 

In submitting the present plan to your Lordship, 
I have conceived it an incumbent duty to compre- 
hend in this letter every point connected with the 
question ; and I trust to your consideration, if my 
disinterested zeal for the prosperity of the Company 
has induced me to enter into too minute a discus- 
sion of the subject. 

I may have ill conceived our political and com- 
mercial interests ; but I derive much satisfaction 
in knowing that I convey to your Lordship every 
a a 2 information 



180 
information at all applicable to either of those 
points; and 1 trust it will be sufficient to enable 
you, on the event of my misconception of the sub- 
ject, to form a. project more consistent with the 
views of India, in its several relations to Egypt and 
this country. 

I have the honour of being, 
with the most sincere respect, 
My Lord, 
your Excellency's most obedient 
and devoted humble Servant, 
(Signed) Home Popham. 



A CON- 



181 



H 
H 

o 

52; 

o 
o 
w 

o 
w 



o 

s 

H 

CO 

W 

CO 

u 

o 




182 



LIST OP GOODS PROPER FOR THE MOCHA MARKET, 

[SUCH AS THE BORAH MERCHANTS BRING FOR SALE. 

Surat G 



Selah Berwy (red) 

Suttaras Bendery 

Moorawadee (ist sort) 

Ditto (2d do.) 

Blue Beraw 

Alatchas Meercawny 

Alatchas Kham Codea 

Baftaes Nowsarry 

Chintz Menea 

Palampores Suraty 

Baftaes Mavirungah 

Soosey Toolthein 

Ditto Nobaty 

Pattah Selety 

Romal Selana 

Muccarmas of all sorts, viz. 
Muccarraa Saloonah lamba - 
Ditto, ditto toonka 

Ditto, Koomtina, Catwa and 

Kumry 
Ditto, Koomtinah Catwa and 

Kumry Khassana 
Ditto Koomtinah Uzruky - 
Mulmull Uzruky 

Maocurmah Toorrah 

Cusseedy 

Ditto, Kham 

Aboojawrah 

Dooty Musfurdah Kham Col- 
lachairanny 

Dooty Musfurdah Niccaroo 



ooas. 

Mocha Dollars. 
from 22 to 21 and 20 per corge 



39 


33 


37 


23 


22 


21 


20 


19 


18 


22 


21 


20 


21 


20 


19 


85 


80 





45 


43 


40 


24 


23 


22 


14 


r 3 


Q 


60 


55 


O 


55 


50 


48 


33 


30 


O 


12 


11 


IO 


30 


28 


26 


8 


7i 


* 


6 


si 


O 


8 


7 


H 


10 


9 


O 


H 


8 


• 7| 


12 


16 


O 


O 


5 


35 per piece 


O 


26 


23 per corge 


O 


18 


H 


O 


5° 


44 


O 


30 


26 


O 


40 


35 



Roomaul 



183 







Mocha Dollars. 


Roomaul Sarcaffbolah 


. - from i\ 1 


:o 3 \ per piece 


Ditto, Motapoolah 


- 


- IO 


8 


Ditto, Jealeenah 


- 


- l 3 


10 


Meesrooh Teredar 


- 


- 6 


4 


Mahawey 


- 


> 20 


1 7 per corge 


Sonah fudlah 


- 


- 21 


19 


Pottah Lakycorrah 


- 


- 18 


16 


Soosey Suttarah (different patterns) 


- 7 


\o\ per piece 


Soosey Suttarah Meyell 


- 


- 18 


2 3 


Kinkhobs (various) 


- 


- • 12 


70 




Camlat Goods, 




Dewany Koojaby 


- 


- 115 


no per corge 


Ditto, Wustawny 


- 


- 85 


80 


Ditto, Murboh 


- 


- 60 


s> 


Pottah Zeebeedy 


- 


- 7 


5i 


Sonah Cumbaeety 


- 


- 16 


1$ 


Matoor 


- 


- 65 


50 


Terentaca 


- 


. 65 


64 


Loalvey Ambry 


- 


- 85 


75 


Chockreea Loalvey Kb 


aum 


- 85 


75 


"Muddaneah Kussabee 


- 


- 8 


7 per piece 


Chawdur Saadee 


- 


22- 


19 per corge 


Ditto, Chavvrpalaoney 


- 37 


32 






C x 4 


J 3 ) 


Pottah Doalkey (blue ; 


Hid red bordei 


) ) Blue. 


Red. C 






( <5 


14 3 


Dotteea Sunnary 


- 


- 40 


45 double do. 



Bengal Goods. 
About Ttvo Lacks in cne Hand. 



Cubits, length, breadth. 
Cossaes Aleebad 40 2^ 
Ditto, Warrah 40 3 
Sahan Hummum Hurrial 
Hummum Lackypore 



Mocha Dollars. 
105 110 per corge 

- 120 125 

- 85 90 

- 6 5 72 

Sahan 



184 



Mocha Dollars. 
from 50 to 65 per corge 

- 75 80 

- 55 65 



Sahan Baftaes (three sorts) 

Beerbonsgarah 

Rasta Elaeesah (silk) 

Charconnah Soosey (various) -J 9 ^ > 

Soosey H-jrramsaye - 

Imaumah (plain) - - 

Ditto, (! . i- :.-z'\ h •■/■■• der of silk) 
Soft Banares sugar (little) 
Radanagore sugar-candy (ditto) 
Rice (tabic) - ... 

Mo on gey Rice - 

Small Quantity of new-fashioned silk 

Cloths and Jermelly - as per quality. 



70 
40 

25 

Q 
it 

4 
5 
3 



3 

75 

45 double do, 

30 per corge 

o per frazil 

o 

o per bag 

si 



Gruff Goods, 

Turin erick 

Jenjoo, or Ginger 

Pepper 

Cardamums (different qualities) 

Cloves 

Cinnamon 

Churr (from Surat) 

Bannyjurr 

A r ermilion in Cakes (thirty ounces) 

Betel-Nuts 

Tutanag 

Tin in bars 

Iron 

Benjamin (first sort) 

Ditto (second do.) 

Ditto (third do.) . - 

Lead 
Steel 



22r 

36 
82 

5° 
5° 

*5 

5 
6 

35 

Si 

5 

45 
13 
10 

6 



23 perbahar 

78 

70 per frazil 

56 

o 
18 

4 per corge 

5^ permaund 
40 per bahar 

^ per frazil 

50 perbahar 
14J per frazil 
il 



German Crowns 

„3 



2- 

SrS 



58 perbahar 

Guzurat 



185 



Guzurat Cotton 

Cotton Thread, as per quality 



HaroofE* 
from 48 to 50 per bahar 
T i7 per frazil 



LIST OF GOODS PROPER FOR THE JUDDAH MARKET, 

AS IMPOKTEB BY THE MERCHANTS. 

Swat Goods. 



\ 


German Crown?. 




Dooty Borodey - 


from 40 to 60 


per corge 


Mahav/ey 


- 


40 


56 




Moosaufee - 


- 


10 


H 




Beraw 


- 


*5 


18 




Jmaumah Guzurat.iy (yellow borders) 


40 


5° 




Gungajemna (border) and Putchrungee 








Musnuffee Waheedar 


- 


50 


Go 




Sahan Nowsawree - 


- 


80 


90 




Shagree Cloths 


- 


90 


"5 




Shagree Cloths (fine quality) 


- 


30 


40 


per piece 


Soosy Suttarah Elateha Savoy 


- 


7 


8 




Alatchas Hamdy 


- 


5 


6 




Hurnroo 


- 


7 


9 




Alatches Parrybosah 


- 


10 


J 5 




Ditto Kanknyah 


- 


9 


11 




Gurmasoot Mahamed Shawy 


- 


12 


15 




Kinkhobs, of different prices 


- 


20 


200 




Bengal Goods. 








Humraum Hurrea - 


- 


200 





per corge 


Ditto Lackypoor 


- 


70 


80 




Baftaes, Lackypoor, and Jugdeah 


- 


5° 







Cossaes Aleebad (first sort) - 


- 


100 


**5 




Ditto Jalampoor Mahmoody 


- 


100 


110 




Mulmulls Tanjebs (fine sort) 


- 


120 


140 





* Imaginary coin : nine of them are equal ta eleven and a half Mocha 
dollars. 

b s Mulmull 



JS£) 









German Crowns. 


Mulmull Bahar 


- 


fro) 


tn 50 to 60 


per corge 


Terrendams 


- 


- 


120 i 


140 




Santipoor 


- 


- 


160 ] 


170 




Cassajoorahs 


- 


- 


100 







Agabanoo (small quantity) 


- 


no price 




Doreas ditto 


_ 


- 


ditto 






Sugar 


- 


- 


** 





per frazil 


Rice Mungy 


- 


- 


4* 





per bag 


Cossaes Aleebad (second sort) 


- 


85 





per corge 


Ditto, Mulmull 


40 3 


- 


170 







Ditto, 


22 if 


- 


170 







Ditto, Gudjenah 


22 l\ 




70 


x> 




Black Pepper 


- 


- 


3*1 





per bahar 


Turmerick 


- 


- 


9l 







Ginger 


- 


- 


*3 







Simmilhoot 


- 


1 


8 







Frankincense - 


- 


- - 


i§ 





per frazil 


Gum-arabic 


- 


- 


if 







Sugar-candy 


' - 


- 


si 







Cardamums 


- 


- 


35 








FOR THE CAIRO MARKET. 



Sural Goods. 

All sorts of Guzurat Cootneys 
Baftaes Barochy 
Muchterchauny Eiatches 
Cassmere shawls 
Dopputtah SafTat 
Pagree Shagree 

Jfengal Goods, 

Hammums (different sorts) 
Mulmulls (ditto) 

Cossaes (ditto) - » 

Agabanoo (ditto) 



500 700 
800 1000 
500 600 



per corge 



Imams 



187 

Imama (line silk borders) 

All sorts of white cotton cloths 

Doreas (various) 

Chintz, Madras (fine) 

Pepper, Cardamums, Cinnamon, Benjamin, Gum-Arabic, 
Frankincense, Aloes, Musk, Camphire, China-ware, Sandal- 
wood, Simmilhoot, Cocoa-Nuts, Agala-wood, Turmerick, 
Ginger, Coffee, Persian Tobacco, Ambergrease, Zeerurnboo, 
Caphoor Catcherry, Pved-wood. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MOST NOBLE THE MAR- 
aUIS WELLESLEY, K. P. GOVERNOR AND CAP- 
TAIN GENERAL OVER ALL THE BRITISH 
POSSESSIONS IN THE EAST, &C. &C. 

TORT WILLIAM. 

Mocha, Aug. 24-, 25, 1802. 
MY LORD, 

I have derived so little information from my pre- 
decessors in the Red Sea, on the manners and cus- 
toms of the people, the interior laws or regulations, 
the stability of the existing Government, or the 
likelihood of any rising faction, and its probable suc- 
cess, — that what I have already submitted to your 
Lordship has been founded principally on my own 
observations, and the conception I had of the ex- 
tent to which it may be proper to yield for the 
monopoly of this trade, and the formation of per- 
manent establishments in the Guiph, that our inter- 
course with Egypt may be increased, and one of 
the collateral defences to India thereby highly im- 
proved. 

Subsequent, however, to my last letter, w 7 hich 

conveyed my ideas on this subject for your Lord- 

b 3 2 ship's 



188 

ship's consideration, circumstances have occurred 
which may partially operate on some point of my 
proposition, without affecting the general outline 
or spirit of the plan. 

In the first instance, the arrival of Mr. Melville 
from Cairo, with a report, founded on the corre- 
spondence from different parts of Europe, that 
Egypt was to be ceded to Great Britain, a secret 
treaty will certainly make it necessary, if it should 
he realized, to take another view of the position and 
consequence of the port of Mocha ; and the events 
which have arisen in my late journey to Tais, will 
furnish ample reasons for applying them to such 
purpose as your Lordship may think most expe- 
dient, on the final issue of any negociation, either 
pending or likely to take place at the Court of 
Constantinople. 

My motives for undertaking this journey have 
been already fully explained to your Lordship; and 
I feel much satisfaction that Mr. Melville is im- 
mediately returning to Calcutta, as he will be able 
to satisfy you on every subject and every point at 
all connected with my Mission ; for I felt it a 
duty, under these considerations, and the respon- 
sible character of Mr. Melville, to talk to him 
in the most unreserved manner, and court a dis- 
cussion on any difference of opinion, which he was 
fully qualified to enter upon, from his knowledge 
and general observations on Egypt and Arabia, in 
their relative positions to each other, and to India, 

The 



189 

The inclosed Papers, No. I and II, to the Dola 
of Mocha and the Imaum's First Vizier, will give 
your Lordship some idea of the internal state of 
this country, and of its lawless and uncontrouled 
inhabitants. The greater part through which we 
passed is divided into small districts, inhabited by 
different Sheiks and their tribes, who cultivate the 
ground, and are subject to toe higher class of 
Sheiks or Dolas appointed by the Imaum ; but 
unless some very decided measures are taken by 
him, I am apprehensive that his power will decline 
very fast; and that Mahomed Ally Sayed, the 
Dola of Udden, as I have observed in my former 
letters, is the most likely person to usurp the go- 
vernment of the Coffee country. The attachment 
of the people to him is very obvious; and in all our 
intercourse, they appeared to hold him in higher 
respect than even the Imaum, whose name they 
seldom mentioned. 

The treatment I experienced on the Dorebat 
road furnished a very sufficient excuse for my re- 
turning by Udden ; and that no suspicions might 
arise at the Court of Sunna of my ultimate object 
in visiting that place, I directed Mr* Elliott to 
explain the cause which induced me to change my 
route ; but when the camels were ordered to be 
laden at Tais, the camel-drivers, on account of the 
badness of the roads, absolutely demanded 300 ad- 
ditional camels; and described such obstacles in 
crossing the mountains, that I determined to re- 
turn 



I.-ftO 

tarn the way I already came, I stated every cir- 
cumstance to the Doia of Udden, in a complimen- 
tary letter, who I invited to meet me at Musa, for 
the purpose of forming a commercial connection 
with so respectable a character, and entering into 
a contract to supply the Company with coffee the 
ensuing season at Mocha. 

I considered it politically right to court the ris- 
ing power; but in such a way, that no objection 
could be taken at Sunna, even by the most scru- 
pulous Officer of the Imaum's Court : and I am 
very happy that Mahomed Ally Sayed appeared 
equally desirous to improve this connection, as 
he lost no time in sending Abdaliah Ismael, his 
confidential friend, and one of his family, to 
meet me at Musa ; and who followed me to 
Mocha, as he arrived a few hours after I left the 
former place. 

In ray first interview with Abdaliah, I found him 
prepared to enter into a contract in form, for any 
quantity of coffee to be delivered in Mocha, free 
of every charge, at fifty-six dollars the Mocha bahar 
(of 484 lbs. net) ; but as I wished to gain some time 
for consideration, and to attend to my other busi- 
ness, I told him, that " I thought the price too 
high ; and that I could not exceed fifty dollars : 
on which terms I had no objection to contract." 
He replied, his master was very desirous to be con- 
sidered a friend of the English; but that the dif- 
ference of price was so great, that he could not 

conclude 



39* ^ 

conclude without further instructions, for which 
he would immediately send an express. 

He made many apologies for the insults which 
had been offered me ; and assured me, that Ally 
Sayed was very much hurt that the Dola of Mocha 
should have neglected to take the necessary pre- 
caution for the protection of my person. He ap- 
peared to be dissatisfied with the government of 
Mocha; and expressed some astonishment that the 
English should not use the port of Aden in pre- 
ference : as he said it was a better harbour, and the 
country was inhabited by a better race of people. 
I found there was a regular intercourse of camels 
between Udden and Aden ; and I took an oppor- 
tunity of asking, "Whether, as he seemed to prefer 
Aden, there was any objection to his delivering 
the coffee there? He said, "Not in the least, 
unless the camel-hire should be more : in which 
case you must pay it." 

This voluntary proposition on his part, is cer- 
tainly in favour of Aden ; and it shews that he 
does not apprehend, or probably fear, any objec- 
tion on the part of the Imaum to the Udden cof- 
fee being shipped at a port out of his territories. 

Just after Abdallah Ismael left me, I received a 
dispatch from Sunna; by which I understood that 
the Imaum was much concerned when he heard 
Mr. Elliott's representation of Sheik Aklan's con- 
duct; and as I supposed the Dola of Mocha would 
receive a reprimand. I sent the Protest No. I. 

without 



19'2 

without a moment's loss of time, to the DoIa 9 
Second Dola, and Cadi, who form the Council of 
the town of Mocha. It was not my intention to 
have delivered it until I was on my way to the quay, 
for the purpose of embarking ; but 1 thought it 
would at this period increase their alarm, convince 
them of their errors, and satisfy them they ought 
to have paid more attention to the character of a 
British Ambassador. 

A public message was soon after delivered me 
from the Dola, that Sheik Aklan had been ordered 
to return all the presents and the money which* he 
plundered us of at Dorebat ; but as he had divided 
the money amongst his troops, he had sent a most 
valuable mare and mule, with which he hoped I 
would be satisfied. I answered, cc that the value of 
the presents given to the Sheik, or the money of 
which he plundered us, was of no consideration ; 
it was the insult to the English nation that must be 
atoned for; and the price could only be fixed by 
the Governor General, to \v 7 hom the case was refer- 
ring for his Excellency's decision." 

The Dola sent a relation of Sayed Mahomed 
Akeil, as he conceived he would have some in- 
fluence, to endeavour to pacify me, assuring me 
that he was convinced of the impropriety of his 
former conduct, and that. he now knew what at- 
tention should have been paid to my person, I 
satisfied this mediator that I could receive no apo- 
logies from the Dola ; and that I should make no 

references 



1Q3 

references to him, except in cases of absolute ne- 
cessity. Every hour some new offer of concilia- 
tion was made ; and at last the government had 
recourse to the true Arab expedient of offering 
bribes to the people about me ; for their interces- 
sion in behalf of the Dola. 

This moment of extreme alarm presented the 
best opportunity for saying it was my intention to 
take Verjee, the Company's Broker, to Bombay, 
to settle his accounts : — in fact, they are too com- 
plex and voluminous for me to adjust ; and as he 
is a man worth nearer thirty lacks of rupees than 
any other given sum, it is an object to have a per- 
son commanding such a capital in one of the Pre- 
sidencies, ready to turn it into any channel of 
Arabian commerce that might seem most con- 
sistent with the Company's views. I was aware 
that every objection would be offered ; and I at 
first had an absolute refusal, until a reference 
could be made to the Imaum ; to which I replied, 
" That Verjee was not only a subject of the British 
possessions in India, but a servant of the Company, 
who had accounts of great magnitude to settle ; 
and that if he did not embark when I did, which 
would be in forty-eight hours, I should take him 
by force, and consider him a prisoner until he 
arrived in Bombay." This absolute and defined 
menace, in point of time, brought the Council to 
its proper senses ; and their mediator called on me 
in the evening, to say that the Government wished 

c c very 



194 
very much to convince me of their respect and 
esteem, by allowing Verjee to accompany me to 
Bombay, although it was against the law of the 
country to suffer a Banyan to quit the kingdom 
without the sanction of the Imaum. 

It is proper to inform your Lordship, that since 
the first arrival of a British force in the Red Sea, 
the Captains of his Majesty's ships have had a 
variety of occasions to complain of the conduct of 
the Dola of Mocha, and as regularly threatened to 
fire into the town, though, from motives of huma* 
nity, they never carried their threats into execu- 
tion ; but the Dola, like an ignorant slave, attri- 
buted this forbearance to a very different cause; 
and has presumed that the destruction of Mocha 
could not be effected by our ships, although he has 
on record the abject submission which the Govern- 
ment was obliged to make to a French frigate, on 
her firing three shots into the town. 

I am satisfied, my Lord, .that nothing but strong 
language, supported by decided measures, will 
bring the Mocha Government to a rational con- 
duct ; and on that account I forbore, even at the 
risk of my life, to make any defence, when we 
could have destroyed all the people who attacked 
Xis, that you might be furnished with grounds to 
justify your taking possession of Mocha, if you 
conceive it for the interests of the Company to do 
so; or, as a reparation for such insults, demand 
privileges and concessions equal to the extent of 

your 



igs 

your most sanguine views in any establishment you 
may deem expedient to make, after I have trans- 
mitted to you all the information I have been able 
to collect, and my ideas on the various points of 
service which you have entrusted to my care. 

The communication from Sunna, and the state 
of the Imaum's disposition, which is as favourable 
as possible, will form another dispatch ; and I have 
written to Mr. Elliott about the mode of de- 
livering the Protest No. II. to the Vizier ; the par- 
ticulars of which I shall have the honour of trans- 
mitting to you on my arrival at Aden, where I shall 
go in the course of two days ; and I intend to em- 
bark to-morrow, and take Abdallah Ismael on 
board the Romney, with a very intelligent Arab 
from Sunna, for the purpose of satisfying them by 
experiment with shot, that all the Imaum's sea- 
coast towns can be destroyed in a few hours, when- 
ever your Lordship may think proper to issue or* 
ders for that purpose. 

I have the honour to be, 

with every respect, 

My Lord, 

your Excellency's most obedient 

and faithful humble Servant, 

(Signed) Home Popham. 



C C 2 TG 



igQ 



TO THE DOLA OF MOCHA. 

Mocha, August 23, 1802* 
The undersigned Ambassador from the Most 
Noble the Governor General of India to the States 
of Arabia, supposing it possible that the Dola of 
Mocha might not be acquainted with the respect 
due to such a character, sent notice to him previ- 
ously to his going to Tais, by Sayed Mahomed 
Akeil, that in every country, and all civilized na- 
tions in particular, the person and suite of an Am- 
bassador were sacred ; and any insults offered to 
him were offered to the Government which he re- 
presented ; and such insults, if attached to his 
person, would in all probability be revenged by his 
Majesty's squadron in the Red Sea. After this ex- 
planation, he put himself entirely under the pro- 
tection of the Dola ; and when the Dola sent to 
know how many Seapoys the Ambassador wished 
to have, he answered by the above-named Sayed 
Mahomed, either one or one thousand, as the 
Dola might judge proper in his wisdom, founded 
upon a knowledge of the country through which 
the Ambassador was to pass, — and the thorough 
explanations which he had received of the dange- 
rous consequences which might result from any in- 
dignity offered to him or his suite. 

The Ambassador is, notwithstanding all these 
precautions on his part, very sorry to observe to the 

Dola, 



197 
Dola, that he has been plundered in ever}'' part of 
the country, more particularly in that under the 
controul of Mocha ; and that he never received 
any assistance from the Seapoys ; and never was 
plundered until the Dola sent a person, by the name 
of Saghlly Nakkass, to take charge of the Sea- 
poys and Camel-drivers, who joined the Ambassa- 
dor at Dorebat ; from which moment every impo- 
sition was practised, and every insult offered to the 
person of the Ambassador ; and those of so serious 
a nature, that they must be enquired into in a very 
detailed manner in the course of a few days, and 
exhibited in the form of a Protest, which the un- 
dersigned will have the honour of transmitting to 
the Dola, for the information of the Imaum, from 
whom redress will be claimed. 

(Signed) Home Pop ham, 

TO THE VIZIER, &C. &CC. &C. 

Mocha, August 25, 18C2, 

With all compliments to the Viziee. 

You have been long acquainted that the Gover- 
nor General of India, desirous of cultivating the" 
most sincere friendship with the Imaum of Sunna, 
and extending his commercial intercourses, took 
the first opportunity, after the British forces had 
driven the French from Egypt, to send an Ambas- 
sador, fully authorized, to enter into a Treaty of 
Commerce equally advantageous to him and to the 

British 



1QS 

British Government ; and the undersigned Am* 
bassador, after many communications with you on 
the subject of his journey to Sunna, which hewas^ 
however, prevented from undertaking, by the ab- 
solute necessity of his being near the port of Mocha, 
where he expected to receive letters of consequence 
from England, lost no time in carrying into efTeet 
the Governor General's sincere wish to make a new 
and lasting Treaty of Commerce with the Imaum, 
as he sent the Secretary of the Embassy to Sunna, 
with instructions to lay before the Imaum the Plan 
of the proposed new Treaty between him and the 
British Government; and at the same time signi- 
fied to you his intention of proceeding by the way 
of Tais to D'jobla, or Yb, that he might be nearer 
to Sunna, to answer such objections as should be 
made to any Articles of the proposed Treaty, and 
to alter them to his Majesty's satisfaction. 

The accompanying paper to the Dola of Mocha. 
will inform you, that the undersigned took every 
measure in his power 1 to explain to the Dola how 
the character of an Ambassador ought to be esteem- 
ed, and how sacred it was held in every part of the 
world ; and his motive for doing so arose from an 
anxious desire to avoid any kind of insult that 
might ultimately lead to a quarrel between the 
British Government and the Imaum of Sunna • 
and he certainly would have overlooked any trifling 
ill-treatment, from a knowledge that the Most 
Noble the Governor General would have approved 

of 



109 

of such conduct, as his sole desire in sending a per- 
son of the rank of an Ambassador to the Imaum's 
Court, and submitting to the enormous expence 
which such a character must occasion, was to con- 
vince the Imaum that he was seriously inclined to 
enter into the sincerest treaty of amity and com- 
merce, offensive and defensive, as far as it related 
to the Imaum's external enemies ; and it was ex- 
pected that as the Imaum must be acquainted with 
the power of Great Britain all over the world, par- 
ticularly in India, of which she has entire posses- 
sion, — the Imaum would have marked his pride in 
the acquisition of such an ally, by a due respect to 
his representative character and his suite : but the 
Ambassador is really unhappy that his duty obliges 
him to represent to the Vizier, that from the mo- 
ment he left the gates of Mocha he was daily in- 
sulted and plundered until he returned again to 
that city ; and some of the insults were so gross 
and enormous, that he is obliged to state them spe- 
cifically for the information of the Imaum. 

On his arrival at Mansurah, Sheik Aklan, of 
Dorebat, wrote him a letter, a copy of which is an- 
nexed, that he was ordered by the Imaum to look 
upon the Ambassador as his guest, — to treat him 
with every respect, — and escort him through his 
country. The name of the Imaum, used by the 
Sheik of so great a district, was sufficient to hurry 
the Ambassador to his protection ; but, instead of 
protection, he received the greatest of all insults 

which 



200 
which could be offered to him in his official capa- 
city : he was surrounded by armed men; and al- 
though he made the Sheik the most ample presents, 
he was told he should not move from Dorebat un- 
less he paid him 500 dollars now, and gave him 
one of his tents : and the Sheik continued the 
same insulting conduct to some gentlemen of his 
suite, who followed him ; and because they had 
not a sufficient sum to satisfy his demands, obliged 
them to leave an hostage, whose throat he threaten- 
ed to cut in two days, if the sum he ordered them 
to pay (500 dollars) was not sent in that space of 
time. 

When the Ambassador arrived at Tais, he ex- 
pected, from the promises of the Dola, that he 
should have experienced a more friendly treat- 
ment ; but apprehending, from a variety of cir- 
cumstances, that this barbarous usage would be 
continued all through the country, he determined 
to return, although he was obliged to submit a se- 
cond time to the unprecedented conduct of Sheik 
Aklan. 

The Ambassador was permitted by the Dola of 
Tais to make his first journey to Kerrah : where 
the Dola, in the night, sent an armed force, and 
surrounded his camp, saying, he could not permit 
him to move until he heard from his master: and 
the sentinels threatened to fire on any person who 
went the least distance from the tents. 

The Embassy was detained at Kerrah four days ; 

and 



20i 

and at last purchased permission to proceed on its* 
return to Mocha. At Orasb, which is in the dis- 
trict of the Dola of Mocha, and the country con- 
tiguous to it, the Ambassador and his suite received 
insults more gross than any which had been already 
represented : One of the Sheiks levelled his piece 
twice at the Ambassador, within ten yards ; and de- 
clared he would shoot him, because he had no 
money about him to give the Sheik : — and at 
Orash, a party seized on the dromedary of one of 
his suite, struck him, took away his sword, and tore 
his coat (the uniform of his Majesty) from his back. 
These insults continued daily, and are too nume- 
rous to mention more in detail, but it must be no- 
ticed, that they increased as we approached Mocha, 
and must have originated from a want of exertion 
on the part of the Dola of Mocha, who encourages 
his people to offer every insult to the English, and 
practises every imposition that he can posssibly in- 
vent. 

The Ambassador takes the. liberty of observing to 
the Vizier, that he would have repelled some of 
these insults with his body-guard of Seapoys, and 
probably put most of the Imaum's subjects to death, 
who were concerned in such atrocious acts ; — but 
as his character is supported by that all-powerful 
nation to which he belongs, he considers it beneath 
his dignity to command so contemptible an atone- 
ment ; nor does he even look upon the destruction 
of Mocha, Lobeia, and Hodeida., which he could 
d d accomplish 



202 

accomplish in a few hours., by his Majesty's squa- 
dron in the Red Sea, a sufficient reparation to his 
Government for the insolence and contempt with 
which he has been treated throughout the Imaum*s 
dominions. 

The Vizier, who must be an enlightened man, 
will be perfectly satisfied, that such conduct to- 
wards an Ambassador is contrary to the common 
usage of all nations, even the most barbarous sa- 
vages on the coast of i\frica ; and that the atone-., 
inent for such enormities must rest with the Go- 
vernor General, who may demand military posses-? 
sion of Mocha, — the entire possession of it,— ^-a tine 
of one or two lacks of dollars,— the dismissal and 
punishment of the different Governors of the coun-* 
try between Tais and Mocha ; or order the towns 
of Loheia, Hodeida, and Mocha to be burnt ; stop 
the exportation of any goods from India ; and pre-* 
vent the Imauro, by his cruisers, from sending any 
coffee out of his territories. 

The undersigned, from the high respect and con- 
sideration which he bears for the character of the 
Vizier, has taken the trouble of entering into a va-.. 
riety of explanations, which the remote position of 
Sunna may have prevented bim from being ac- 
quainted with : — he feels no hesitation in having 
been thus explicit on the probable line of conduct 
which the Governor General may adopt, when he 
hears of the result of that Embassy from which he 
promised himself the most happy connection with, 

the, 



203 

the Imaum of Surma; because all the power of 
Arabia could not prevent the Governor General 
from destroying the towns belonging to the Imaum 
which lie on the sea-coast. This the Vizier must 
be thoroughly acquainted with, as he knows the 
Navy of England has conquered all the navies of 
Europe ; and the Army has beaten Tippoo Saib, 
taken possession of all his country; and performed 
wonders, even nearer the Imaum's territories, by 
driving the French out of Egypt, whose intention 
was to plunder all that country, and then to plun- 
der Arabia. 

The Ambassador repeats again to the Vizier 
his extreme concern that these various and most 
degrading insults oblige him to refer the whole 
case to the Governor General, although he is cer- 
tain that the Imaum will be sensibly affected in 
hearing that his governors and subjects are so lost 
to his interest and the common ties of hospitality, 
as to induce a quarrel with that nation which has 
exerted itself so much for the protection of Arabia, 
— and now that a peace is concluded, wishes to 
extend its commerce in the territories of the Imaum, 
which will so increase his consequence and revenue, 
that he will be able to keep all the wandering 
tribes who infest his towns in the completest state 
of subjection. 

The undersigned cannot conclude this remon- 
strance without noticing another act of aggression 

s d 2 on 



'204 
.on the part of the Imaum's government, — That of 
enticing his Majesty's subjects to desert from their 
ships, and embrace the Mahometan religion. As a 
protection to their persons, notice was very early 
given to the Dola of Mocha, that the present squa- 
dron in the Red Sea would fire upon the town if 
such practices were continued; and Captain Car* 
bin ought not to have been contented with the 
Imaum's reasoning on this subject, when he threat- 
ened to bombard Mocha if his people, who had 
been received and protected by the Dola, were not 
given up* 

One man, within these few days, was received 
by the Dola ; and the undersigned would certainly 
have destroyed the town of Mocha if he had not 
been restored : but as he has grievances of a much 
more serious nature to complain of, he has refrain- 
ed from revenging this proceeding, which is con- 
trary to the laws of nations, and refers, as he already 
mentioned, every point to the decision of the Go- 
vernor General of India ; to whom he shall imme- 
diately transmit a copy of this representation. 

The Ambassador fears he will not be able to re- 
main at Mocha until he has the honour of receiv- 
ing an answer from the Imaum ; but as he is con- 
vinced that the Imaum will adopt some conciliating 
measures, he has directed his Secretary to report to 
the Governor General the steps which the Imaum 
may think proper tatake ; he leaves a vessel in the 

Red 



203 

lied Sea, for the purpose of conveying the intelli- 
gence to India ; and he requests the Vizier will 
make all his communications on this subject to 
him, 

(Signed) Home Popham. 

TO SIR HOME POPHAM, K. M. CAPTAIN OP HIS MA- 
JESTY^ SHIP ROMNEY, COMMANDED IN 
CHIEF OF A SQUADRON OF HIS MA- 
JESTY'S SHIPS AND VESSELS IN 
THE RED SEA, <?CC. &C. &C. 

Benaris, Nov. 20, 1S0L 

Sir, 

You have been informed by the Honourable the 
Vice President of the advices received from Europe, 
respecting the conclusion of a convention between 
the governments of France and Portugal, and the 
consequent expectation of an early attempt on the 
part of the French to take possession of the Portu- 
gueze settlements in China and the East Indies. 
The Vice President in Council will also communi- 
cate to you the measures which I have adopted. 
for the purpose of co-operating in the protection of 
those settlements from the designs of the French* 

My experience of your eminent zeal for the pro- 
motion of the public service, affords me the fullest 
assurance of obtaining from you any aid wi 
your power, in carrying into effect the measures 
which I have adopted on ibis occasion. In this 
confidence, I have directed the Vice. President in 

Cor . 



206 

Council to solicit your assistance in transporting a 
proportion of British troops to Goa or Bombay, as 
the state of the season may render adviseable, for the 
purpose of adding to the means of defence at the 
former settlement, 

I have the honour to refer you to the Vice Presi- 
dent in Council for the detail of this arrangement. 

I have been informed by private dispatches from 
the Honourable the Vice President, that, in the 
spirit of public zeal, which on all occasions has 
distinguished your conduct, you have tendered 
your personal services and the strength of his Ma- 
jesty's ship the Rornney, to afford convoy to the 
Dover Castle and Asia, on the expedition to Macao. 

I consider it to be my duty to assure you, that 
1 consider this offer to be highly honourable to you, 
and that I accept it with gratitude on the part of 
the Company. I accordingly request that you will 
communicate with the Vice President respecting 
the details necessary to facilitate the arrangement 
which you have proposed, for giving convoy to the 
Dover Castle and Asia. 

I have the honour to be, 

Sir, 

your most faithful Servant, 

(Signed) Wellesley. 



to 



207 



TO SIR HOME P0PHAM, K. M. CAPTAIN OF HIS MA- 
JESTY'S SHIP ROMNEY, COMxMANDER IN 
CHIEF OF A SQUADRON OF HIS MA- 
JESTY'S SHIPS AND VESSELS IN 
THE RED SEA, &C. &C. &C. 

Fort William, Nov. 26, 1801. 

Sir, 

The Vice President in Council has the honour to 
acquaint you, that he communicated your reply of 
the 14th inst. to his dispatches of the 12th inst. to 
his Excellency the Most Noble the Governor Ge- 
neral. 

His Excellency has requested the Vice President 
in Council to convey to you his thanks, for the 
readiness which you expressed to afford your assist* 
ance and co-operation in the execution of any mea- 
sures which his Excellency might judge it advise- 
able to adopt, in consequence of the late intelli- 
gence received from England respecting the state 
of affairs in Portugal, 

His Excellency considers this offer of your assist- 
ance and co-operation, and your consequent return 
to Calcutta, as an additional proof of your distin- 
guished zeal for the public service. 

The Vice President in Council informed his Ex- 
cellency that, in consequence of the suggestion 
contained in your dispatch of the 14th inst. the 
Vice President in Council had come to a determi- 
nation, subject to his Excellency's approbation, to 
substitute, for the two companies of European in- 
fantry, 



20S 
fa-ntry, original I y proposed by the Vice President in 
Council to.be. embarked on board of the Asia and 
Dover Castle, one company of European artillery, 
with its proportion of Golundauge and Lascars, 
and five hundred men of the Bengal marine bat- 
talion. His Excellency has approved of this ar- 
rangement ; and, under the instructions which the 
Vice President in Council will not hesitate to add 
a proportion of European infantry, if, from your 
knowledge of Macao, or other considerations, it 
should appear to you adviseable to make this addi- 
tion to the force. 

Such part of the force destined for Macao as 
cannot be accommodated on board the Asia and 
Dover Castle, may be embarked on the additional 
tonnage provided for that purpose. 

The Governor General has desired the Vice Pre* 
sident in Council to express to you his thanks for 
your spirit of public zeal, which has induced you to 
tender your personal services and the strength of 
his. Majesty's ship Romney, to convoy the arma- 
ment destined for Macao. His Excellency consi- 
ders, the plan of your affording convoy to that ar- 
mament to be well deserving of that effort of zeal 
p.nd energy. His Excellency lias not hesitated to 
accept your offer, under a conviction that a more 
useful and acceptable service in the present monient 
could not be performed by you, than that of afc 
fording protection to the armament proceeding tp 
Macao. 

Of 



209 
Of the force held in readiness to embark for Goa, 
his Excellency has desired that the company of ar- 
tillery may embark without delay ; and the Vice 
President in -Council requests that you will be 
pleased to make such arrangements, with respect 
to the transports now ready to depart from this port 
for the Red Sea, as will ensure the arrival of the 
detachment of artillery at Goa as early as may be 
practicable. 

The corps of native volunteers will not embark 
immediately, but will be held in readiness for em- 
barkation, in the event of their services being re- 
quired. 

The Vice President in Council requests you will 
accept his cordial thanks for your prompt and ready 
compliance with the requests made to you in his 
dispatch of the 12th inst. and for the essential be- 
nefit which he has derived from your advice and 
assistance in forming and executing the several ar- 
rangements and measures which the Governor Ge- 
neral has directed to be carried into effect at this 
Presidency, in consequence of the late intelligence 
of the designs meditated by the French against the 
Portugueze settlements in India and China. 
We have the honour to be, 
Sir, 
your obedient Servants, 
(Signed) G. H. Barlow, 
G. Udny. 

E E EXTRACT 



210 

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM G. H. BARLOW, ESQ* 

VICE PRESIDENT IN COUNCIL, TO SIR HOME 

POP-HAM,- K. M. 

Dated Calcutta , February 9, 1803* 
SIR, 

I beg to repeat my thanks to you for the zealous 
co-operation and assistance which I received from 
you in all matters relating to the public service ^ 
and to assure you that I shall always remain with, 
great respect and esteem, &cc. 

I have not placed all the preceding letters in the 
order of their dates, because I doubted, in the first 
instance, whether I should insert them at all ; but 
the testimonies they carry from so high a character 
as Lord Wellesley, of my unremitting attention 
to the interest of the public on all occasions, has 
since induced me to add them to my own corre- 
spondence, which is the most direct diary of my 
proceedings that I can offer. 

Since my return to England I have received the 
following copy of a letter to the Court of Directors 
from the Governor General, recommending me in 
the strongest possible terms to the notice of that 
Honourable Court, as a mark of his Excellency's 
high estimation of my services in India; and al- 
though he appears to differ in some respects from 
the policy "of my conduct towards the Pacha of 
Egypt, yet I trust he is satisfied the principle was 
good ; and the ultimate beneficial effects of that 
arrangement may possibly exceed his expectation. 

TO- 



211 



■TO THE HON* THE COURT OP DIRECTORS FOR AF- 
FAIRS OF THE UNITED COMPANY OF MER- 
CHANTS OF ENGLAND TRADING TO THE 
EAST INDIES. 

Fort William, February 23, 1803. 
HONOURABLE SIRS, 

Captain Sir Home Popham having proceeded 
on his return to Europe, the Governor General in 
Council considers it to be his duty to take this oc- 
casion to express to your Honourable Court the 
high sense which the Governor General in Council 
entertains of the eminent spirit of zeal and alacrity 
manifested by Sir Home Popham in promoting the 
interests of the Honourable Company to the ex- 
tent of his power, on all occasions where his public 
services could be beneficially employed in facili- 
tating the views and measures of the British Go- 
vernment in India, 

The Governor General in Council has great 
satisfaction in acknowledging to your Honourable 
Court, that the public service in India has derived 
material benefit and assistance from the active and 
able exertions of Sir Home Popham, on various 
important occasions* 

The zeal and alacrity manifested by Sir Home 
Popham in promoting the arrangements for the 
conveyance of the troops, dispatched under the 
orders of the Governor General in Council, for 
the eventual protection of the Portugueze esta- 
blishments in Macao, merit the particular thanks 

and 



212 
and acknowledgments of the Governor General 
in Council. 

The exertions of Sir Home Popham in facili- 
tating the return of the troops employed in the ex- 
pedition to Egypt, under the authority vested in 
him by this Government, have afforded an addi- 
tional example of that Officer's distinguished pro- 
fessional talents and public spirit. 

The conduct of Sir Home Popham, during his 
political mission to the Arab States, furnishes equal 
proofs of ability, industry, and attachment to the 
public service ; and although the Governor Gene- 
ral in Council deemed it to be his duty to express 
his dissent from the policy of Sir Home Popham's 
proceedings in Egypt and other places, on the 
grounds stated in the dispatches from his Excel- 
lency to that Officer, — his Excellency highly ap- 
proves the general tenor of Sir Home Popham's 
conduct on the coasts of Arabia and of the Red Sea. 

Under these impressions, the Governor General 
in Council considers it to be his duty to recommend 
the services and the active exertions of Sir Home 
Popham in India to the distinguished notice and 
favour of your Honourable Court. 

We have the honour to be, Honourable Sirs, 

your most faithful humbie Servants, 
(Signed) Wellesley, 

G. H. Harlow, 
G. Udny. 

be.-* FINIS. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

A PAMPHLET 

WHICH HAS BEEN PRIVATELY CIRCULATED, 

SAID TO BE 

« A CONCISE STATEMENT OF FACTS, AND THE 
TREATMENT EXPERIENCED BY SIR HOME POP- 
HAM, SINCE HIS RETURN FROM THE RED SEA :" 



TO WHICH IS ADDER, 



A COPY OF THE REPORT 

MADE BY THE 

NAVY-BOARD to the ADMIRALTY, 

ON INVESTIGATING 

THE ACCOUNT of EXPENDITURE 

FOR 

THE ROMNET AND SENSIBLE, 

AT CALCUTTA, IN 1801, 

Whilst under the Orders of SIR HOME POPHAM. 



THIRD EDITION. 

LONDON : 
Printed for J. GINGER, No. 36*9, Piccadilly. 



m 



%A^A 



n 



rented by I. and I. Walter, Prinrtng-houfc^ard, Blackfriart. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

A PAMPHLET 

PRIVATELY CIRCULATED BY 

SIR HOME POPH'AM, &c. 



XT is not lefs true than extraordinary, that the 
Pamphlet printed and circulated by Sir Home 
Popham, in Auguft, 1803, did not fall into the 
hands of the Earl of St. Vincent, or any other 
Member of the late Board of Admiralty, until the /£ ^i& 
19th inftant, or it would have been fooner noticed. 
They had, indeed, long fince heard, that fuch a 
Pamphlet was privately circulated : but their ut- 
moft efforts to obtain a perufal of it proved inef- 
fectual. 

The Report of the Navy Board, and the ex- 
tracts, from the Boatfwain's expence book, from 
the (hip's log, and from Sir Home Popham's own 
journal, which will be fubjoined to his obferva- 
tions, form the beft anfwer that can be given to 
his vain and oftentatious boafts of economy r , in the 
expenditure of ftores^ and in the equipment of the 
fbips under his orders at Calcutta^ in Read of Bom- 
bay, where, in fa£t, he mould have repaired, after 
he had performed the fervice he was employed on 
in the Red Sea. To thofe who are acquainted 
with the geography of the Eaft Indies, the mo- 
tives for his going to Calcutta will not be very 

B apparentj 



% 

apparent, more efpecially, when they are informed 
that Bombay is the depot of {lores for the fhips of 
His Majefly, and that the Eafl India Company have 
a commodious arfenal and docks there, which are 
always open to the repair and equipment of the 
King's mips; whilft at Calcutta, every thing of 
the kind is in the hands of Merchant-builders; in 
addition to which, let it be remembered, that the 
fcene of Sir Home Popham's operations was 
much more #/w//toBoMB ay than Bengal. It 
is to be feen whether thefe motives are not explain- 
ed by facls: but be that as it may, it is certain, 
that La Senfible, one of the fhips of his fquadron, 
on which twenty-thrie thousand nine hun- 
dred and forty-eight pounds had been ex- 
pended, in altering her from an armed tranf- 
port to a 32 gun frigate, without any autho- 
rity for fo doing, and without the approbation, 
or even knowledge of the Commander in Chief, 
Admiral Rainier, was wrecked in her paffage 
back to the Red Sea, on the reef off Point Pedro 
on the Ifland of Ceylon, an event which could 
not have happened, had Sir Home Popham 
gone to Bombay. 

Notwithftanding Lord St. Vincent cannot boaft 
of having explored the Red Sea, he knows, and 
feels the full force of the Arabian Proverb, " That 
an arrow to flick in the eagle's wing, can only be 
an arrow made of an eagle's feather ;" and, in this 
feeling, the pamphlet above alluded to would have 
been treated with filent contempt, could it be 
viewed in any other light than as one of the links 
of that chain of groundl r efs accufation and calumny r , 
with which every a6l of the late Board of Admi- 
ralty was fo tnduftrioujlyi but Jecretly furrounded, 
in order to prepare the public mind for the open 
attack, which was meditated againft iu 

Sir 



Sir Home Popham, it appears by this pam- 
phlet, had not the honour of being perfonally 
known to the late Firft Lord of the Admiralty ; 
neverthelefs, he mould have been aware, of what 
might have been learnt, with very few exceptions, 
from every Officer of the Navy, who had ferved 
in the general line of the profeffion, that fo far 
from entertaining the fmalleft predilection in fa- 
vour of soi-disants, hisLordfhip earneftly fought 
for, and rewarded, modeft merit; and that, of all 
men living, he was the laft, that would for an in- 
ftant countenance, much lefs join in a confpiracy^ 
either againft the public, or againft any individual. 
His Lordfhip's heart revolts at the idea. There is, 
it is true, fome apology for Sir Home, who has 
ferved but little, where the characters of any of 
our Admirals could have been learnt ; yet, if the 
brilliancy of his own exploits, in teaching the 
midfhipmen of the Romney to obferve the tranfit 
of a ftar over the meridian, had not blinded him ; 
if upon the hot fervice which he performed in the 
Red Sea, he had not, as one would fuppofe, 
received a coiip-de-foleil, which had affected 
his intellect, he might have faved himfelf much 
trouble by the recollection of an Englifh adage, 
not lefs appropriate than the Arabian proverb, 
" That old birds are not to be caught with chaff." 
Any further obfervation is unneceffary, in reply 
to his grievous complaints, of not having been in- 
dulged with private interviews by the Firft Lord, 
and of the Miniftry having neglecled to avail them- 
/elves of his boafted aftronomical fk'ill and ability to 
carry their plans into execution. 

Sir Home talks of envy and jealoufy having 

operated againft him ; furely he cannot mean to 

apply that infmuation to either of the late Sea 

B % Lords 



Lords of the Admiralty ! Of what trait in his cha- 
racter, of what feat, during his career in the pub- 
lic fervice, can he fondly have imagined them 
to be jealous? Are not the public yet to be in- 
formed of thefe wondrous exploits, which would 
have created fuch fenfations ? and will it not be 
conferled, at leaft by every man who has read Sir 
Home's pamphlet, that, if any fuch exploits had 
been achieved by him, they would have loft no- 
thing in the telling ? No : whatever fenfations 
may have arifen in their brefts, Sir Home may 
be affured, neither envy nor jealoufy formed a 
part; a moment's reflection mull convince him, 
that there is not the fmalleft ground for fuch an 
idea ; and that, in the purfuit of honour and the 
-public weal, they and he have taken fuch op- 
pofite paths to accomplifh the object, that he can 
hardly be confidered as belonging to the fame 
clafs of fervice, or genus of character. In truth, 
his achievements and theirs appear to be fo hete- 
rogene, that his honours and laurels, however 
fanciful and ornamental they may be, would not 
fit eafy on their brows. No : he may reft affured, 
that they neither envy, nor are jealous of his 
fame, fortune, or aftronomical ability; nay more, 
that they would not ftoop to the ground to take 
up the brightefl feather in his cap, nor all the 
variegated plumage of the Eaft with which he is 
decked, or that which he may hereafter acquire 
in the Weftern hemifphere, from pamphlets, 

COFFERS, Or CATAMARANS. 

Did Sir Home Popham really flatter himfelf that 
his fheltering himfelf under the affumed refponfibi- 
lity of a IS 1 aval Officer of his own appointment in the 
Red Sea, or the more refpe&able character of 
Mr, Louis at Calcutta^ could impofe upon a dif- 

cerning 



cerning public, when the cafe was fairly laid be- 
fore them, and it was known, that the latter had 
no other fhare in his tranfa&ions than to fell the 
{lores, which he had ordered to be fent to him for 
that purpofe, to purchafe fuch as he demanded, 
and to draw the bills for his profufe expenditure, 
on all zvhich Mr. Louis, the Acting Naval Officer, 
had a commiffion of at I e aft five per cent. ? or was 
he encouraged by the fuccefs of former fpecula* 
tions, to provoke an expofure of the harlequinade 
of the Captain of the Romney ? 

But to come to the point: bills to the amount 
of feventy-four thoufand fix hundred and fifty-two 
pounds, having been drawn by the a&ing Naval 
Officer at Caleutta,for the repairing of, and fupplies 
of {lores to the Romney and Senfible (exclufiveof 
provifions )i under Sir Home's orders, within little 
more than twelve months from the time of their sail- 
ing from England, compleatly fitted for India fer- 
vice,befides fupplies received at the Cape of Good 
Hope in the paffage out, the Admiralty, having con- 
{lantly in view their ftar, whok fixed and uniform 
radiance pointed only to the good of the public ,and 
to the honour of the fervice, notwithstanding (as Sir 
Home feems to doubt) they never may have feen 
the latitude determined by the tranfitof a flarover 
the meridian, have ever thought it right, that 
whatever appertained to public accompts mould 
face the light. This enormous fum of feventy- 
four thoufand fix hundred and fifty-two pounds, 
having flafhed acrofs them from the Eafl,they did, 
moft affuredly, think it their duty to order fome 
obfervations. to be taken of that phenomenon, and 
an accurate invefligation to be made of all the 
appearances of a meteor of fuch uncommon magni- 
tude ! But to defcend from the regions of Sir 
B 3 Home's 



6 

Home's favourite fcience : was it not indecent, 
was it not outrageous, whilft that inveftigation 
was going on, to his knowledge^ to prefs the Firfl 
Lord of the Admiralty to grant him perional in- 
terviews, for the purpofe of difcuffion ? And 
would it not have been indecorous, would it not 
have been a breach of duty to the public, on the 
part of the Firfl Lord, to have permitted any fuch 
interview? ; \ 

The official Report of the Navy Board on the 
tranfaclions at Calcutta, (their Report on Sir 
Home's fubfequent proceedings in the Red Sea 
not having yet been made, although ordered by 
the Admiralty nearly twelve months fince,) ivhich 
fhall be fubjoined to his Obfervations, is abundant 
proof, to enable the public to judge between him 
and the late Board of Admiralty ; and, it is to be 
hoped, there is yet virtue enough left in this coun- 
try, to applaud their vigilance and integrity, and 
acquit them, of the foul charge of con/piracy. 



To the Right Hon. HENRY ADDINGTON, 
FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY, S,c. 

SlR 9 
" I folicit your attention to the ftatement of facts 
contained in the following pages, which I am impe- 
rioufly called on to lay before the FirftMinifter of 
this country, not altogether as an appeal, but to re- 
move certain impreflions which I hear, from un- 
queflionable authority, have been induftrioufly pro* 
pagated, and may poffibly have been brought in 
more direct terms before you ; and this at a time 
when, I declare, I had not an idea or expedient 
Unapplied which could Jupport the honour or ad- 
vance 



vanu the inter m efl of the country. How far my exer- 
tions in thefe different avocations were crowned 
with fuccefs, will be bed fhewn by the teflimonies 
of the Governor-General of India, and the Gene- 
ral Officers with whom I ferved and co-operated 
in the Red Sea. 

" My zealous endeavours on all occafions, my 
ihirft for honour, and my anxious defire to advance 
the profpects of a very large family, while acting 
under the orders of different Minijiersj and never 
offering an objection to either fe of on, country, or cli- 
mate f have, I fear 9 excited a degree of jealousy 
which fufpends all impartial confiderations, and 
may leave me a victim to the effects of its unbe- 
coming influence. 

" 1 have reafon to complain, becaufe I know 
that evidence in pofleffion have been rejected; 
that fa£ts have been tortured and mifreprefented ; 
and that the very means of information have been 
neglecled which carry the moil unequivocal tef- 
timony of the propriety of my conduct. 

" I have delayed as long as poffible to ftate the 
injuries I have fuffered; and however fevere their 
operation may be on my mind, yet I have never 
ceafed, from the moment of my return from the 
Red Sea, to apply myfelf raoft ferioufly in ad- 
vancing THE VIEWS OF HIS MAJESTY'S MINIS- 
TERS t, although I cannot command intereft to 
obtain employment in the direct line of my pro- 
ferEon. 

" In committing thefe fheets to the prefs, I beg 

it may not be conjidered as a publication ; I have 

adopted this method merely becaufe I efteem it 

a more preferable mode than manufcript of fubmit- 

B 4 ting 

* Vive la Bagatelle ! ! 
f Rifum teneatis, amici. 



8 

ting a few facts to your perufal, and to that of 
fuch Members of the Cabinet Council as / claim 
the honour of being known to ; for if I left fuch 
infinuations to the chance of being effaced by 
time, I mould ill deferve the commiffion I hold 
in his Majefty's fervice, or the patronage which I 
had the good fortune to obtain by my perfonal ex- 
ertions during the I aft war, 

" I have the honour to be, 
" Sir, 
" With profound refpe£t, 
" Your moft obedient and 
< f Moft humble fervant, 

" HOME POPHAM." 



CONCISE STATEMENT OF FACTS, 

AND THE 

TREATMENT EXPERIENCED 



SIR HOME POPHAM, 

SINCE HIS RETURN FROM THE RED SEA. 

6C It has hitherto been the proud chara&eriftic 
of the Adminiftration of this Country, to infpire 
Officers with confidence tantamount to the exi- 
gency of the fervice, whether applying to the ftriQ: 
letter of an order, or the more extenfive concep- 
tion of its fpirit. 

** U rider fuch impreffions, the Romney failed in 
December 1800, with a body of troops for the 
Red Sea, to join the Indian army on the expedi- 
tion to Egypt. It is not my intention to difcufs 
how far this army was acceflary to, or auxiliary in 
the final expulfion of the French from that coun- 
try; 



try; but to fhew how far the influence of perfonal 
prejudice will operate in purfuing a fyftem of ex- 
traordinary illiberality, without the fmalleft fhadow 
of public expedience, by which alone every Of- 
ficer of the Crown ought to be actuated. 

" Daily instances of outrage come to my know- 
ledge, almoft bordering on a confpiracy, to debafe 
the character of an individual, in a manner as 
clandeftine as it is difgraceful. 

"From the converfation of one of the prefent 
Lords of the Admiralty with a friend of mine, be- 
fore I had failed three months, and when he had 
fcarcely been feated in his place at the Board, I 
had every thing to apprehend, and no chance of 
that impartial consideration which it is his bounden 
duty toexercife on all occafions. 

" Since my return to England, I have heard, 
from various Gentlemen of refpe&ability, that 
calumnious reports were circulated, in whifpers 
and converfations, with the greateft induftry, by 
thofe very perfons who ought to have checked 
them, and this manifeftly with a view of making a 
public impreffion againft me. 

"After fuch conduct on the part of the Ad- 
miralty, it is natural to fuppofe that a fpeciflc 
letter of difapprobation would have been written 
to me immediately on my arrival in England. On 
the contrary, I have not had one line from the 
Board, on the fubject of this ftatement; and I 
fubmit it to the confideration of any impar- 
tial man, whether it has been ufual, or whether 
it be decorous, for fo high a power (a power 
looked up to for protection from injuftice) to im* 
bibe prejudices without real caufe, to force a de- 
gree of condemnation of my conduct, without 
being heard; upon the minds of perfons with whom 

any 



10 

any intercourfe has been held, and frequently to 
introduce the fuhjecl;, when it could anfwer no 
other purpofe than that of injuring my reputation ? 
" On the arrival of the Romney from the Red 
Sea, the political fituation of the country render- 
ed it neceffary fhe mould be retained fome time in 
the Downs, on the imprefs fervice, and then me 
proceeded to Sheernefs, where her fhip's com- 
pany was employed in fitting out mips newly com- 
miffioned, under a promife of having tickets of 
leave for fourteen days, This affurance, probably, 
induced the men to exert themfelves in an extra- 
ordinary degree, as can be teftified by the Cap- 
tains of different mips they fitted; but, on the 
iffuing of the letters of marque, about the 14th of 
May, 1803, it was generally rumoured that no 
leave could be granted, and at that moment it 
could not reafonably be expected. 

" On the 15th (Sunday), fome of the mips at 
Chatham, junior to the Romney, for fhe had been 
the fenior fhip there fince her arrival, received 
leuers, to be communicated to the fhip's company, 
ftating, that from the peculiar circumftances of 
the times, it was impolTible to grant leave of ab- 
fence, and therefore, trufting that the men would 
difplay their wonted zeal, and enter for fome fhip 
in the harbour ; or otherwife, that they would be 
drafted. 

" Such a letter was not delivered to the Rom- 
ney till late on the evening of the 17th, and then 
it was too late to be read that evening; but it was 
done on the following morning, Wednefday the 
18th. 

fr' On an occafion of this kind, it is perfectly 
well known, that the firft impreffion on a fhip's 
company is againft their Captain, for not exerting 

himfelf 



11 

himfelf to flate their cafe*; as many of the men 
had been feven or eight years in the (hip ; and 
fome had nine years pay due. 

" Juft as this degree of irritation was at its 
height, when every feaman feemed almoft to wifh 
mv inftant deftru&on t, and before reafon could 
repoffefs their minds, I received a note from Com- 
miffioner Hope, defiring me to call at his houfe, 
where I found Sir Wm. Rule, the Surveyor of 
the Navy, who, I apprehend, had travelled to 
Chatham in the night. They (hewed me a warrant 
from the Navy Board, under Admiralty orders, 
commanding them to proceed on board the Rom- 
ney, and examine into her ftate, the repairs done, 
and make a variety of other enquiries, which I do 
not at this moment recollect. 

" The Surveyor, Commiffioner, Builder, Store- 
keeper, Mailer Attendant, and other Officers, af- 
fembled on board, where they remained fome 
time, and then took on fhore to the Commis- 
sioner's office, the Officers, Warrant Officers, and 
other people belonging to the mip, for the pur- 
pofe of anfwering the intention of the warrant juft 
received. 

" Thefe Gentlemen immediately eftablifhed a 
Committee, or Court, and proceeded to prepare 
affidavits ; but before they began, I thought it ne- 

ceffary 

* No impreflion of this kind could have been received by the 
{hip's company, for it was notorious, that the fituation of the 
country demanded their fervices, and they well knew that the 
Captain had only to obey his orders. 

f Whatever might have been their wifhes, or the wifhes of 
other feamen in the fame fituation, not a murmur was heard. 
The men knew too well the character and firmnefs of the man at 
the helm, to venture on the fmalleft fymptoms of mutiny or dis- 
obedience ; and he, in return, gave them the fame bounty as they 
would have received, if they had been difcharged, and had re- 
entered. 



12 

ceffary to ftate,that I confidered their having been 
on board the Romney with a public warrant, al- 
though no notification had been made to me, in 
the nature of a public examination, inftituted with 
a view of anfwering fome end; and that, as pro- 
bably fome charges, arifing from this examination, 
might be brought forward, at a time when it would 
be impoffible for me to repel them, I hoped they 
would allow me to be prefent during the enquiry. 
At firft fome difficulty was ftarted, but it was at 
length got over, and I remained in the Committee 
or Court,till fuch Officers as the Admiralty deem- 
ed it expedient to have examined were fworn, and 
gave their depofitions accordingly. 

« The moft material queftions put in direct 
terms were, ' What was the ftate of the fhip when 
fhe left England?' 6 What was it when fhe reached 
Calcutta ?' 6 Was it necefiary to make any repairs?' 
and, 6 Were any made but fuch as were abfolutely 
neceffary ?' 

" The anfwers on oath were delivered in the 
moft pointed manner: that fhe made much water 
in the Britifh Channel, and that the evil daily in- 
creafed ; that her bends were found very defective 
on caulking at the Cape ; that fhe made from fix 
to eight feet water in an hour, during her paflage 
to Calcutta; that her wales on her larboard fide 
were found quite rotten; that they were forced to 
make many fhifts of planks on the ftarboard fide, 
&c.*; and that no work was done to the fhip, ex- 
cept 

* This great defeft in her wales, in Auguft, 1801, muft ap- 
pear fomewhat extraordinary, when it is known, that in 1800 
fhe had £3,580 expended on her at Sheernefs, and flood the test 
of the caulking- iron in November, only three months before the 
bends were found to be fo very defective at the Cape j the Mer- 
chant- 



13 

cept what was abfolutely neceflary to enable her 
to undertake any fervice whatever. This was the 
principal enquiry the Committee made on the 
iubjecl: of repair. I then requefted to put one 
queftion, namely, K Whether, if the Romney had 
6 not received the repairs in queftion, confidering 
8 the weather we experienced, fhe would not, in 
' all probability, have gone to the bottom ?' 

64 This queftion was not allowed to be anfwer- 
ed, as the Surveyor confidered it fully fufficient to 
know, that the repairs which had been done were 
abfolutely neceflary; and that no repairs were 
done but what were really wanted. 

M The next object of their enquiry was, c Whe- 
c ther I had given proper attention to the ftores 
4 in the different departments ?' and 6 Whether 

* there had been any wafteful or wanton expendi- 

* ture of them ?' To the firft part the perfons exa- 
mined anfwered in the affirmative; to the latter, 
in the negative ; and to both, in the molt explicit 
and unequivocal manner*. 

" The Lieutenants and Mafter of the fhip 
having attended in the outer room, I fubmitted 
the propriety of examining them, as being men of 
higher rank, better informed t, clearer in their re- 
collection, 

chant-builders' bill for the repairs at Calcutta, does not conde- 
fcend to give particulars, further, than « great part of the wales 
and top-fides being fhifted/ 

* Very explicit and unequivocal itmuftbe confefTed, when the 
Boatfvvain's declaration, ' that a part of a bower-cable was given. 

* to the Merchant-builders, becaufe it had all been expended,' is 
compared with his negative to the queftion, l If there had been 

* any ivafteful or wanton expenditure of ftores ?' The Na<vy 
Board's Report \s alfo not less explicit and unequivocal, 
as it relates to thefe queftions. 

f This, indeed, is corroborated by the Boatftvain's declaration, 
ja page 33, 



14 

collection, and more refpeclable in their charac- 
ters than Warrant Officers ; but my propofition 
was not attended to, as it appeared, that the au- 
thority from the Admiralty only went to the depo- 
sitions of the Warrant Officers *. 

" I mall not make any comment on this mode 
of procedure, but leave thofe who inftituted the 
enquiry to reflect on the poffible confequences of 
meafures fo partial, fo uncandid, and fo uncon- 
ilitutional ; and beg leave to refer the tranfaction 
in toto to the opinion of the Judges, or Gentle- 
men poffeffed of a knowledge of the bafis of our 
glorious Conilitution, and particularly converfant 
in maritime laws. 

" In civil courts, the defendant is heard as well 
as the plaintiff, and he is publicly acquainted with 
the ground on which the profecution is taken up. 
In charges of high treafon, the accufed is furnifhed 
with a copy of his indictment, is affifted by able 
advocates; and the Judge, inftead of propagating 
reports injurious to his character, feels himfelf 
bound to refill; the moil diftant converfation on the 
fubjeQ;, and leans, in every inftance, to the moil 
favourable conftruclion of the cafe ; exclufive of 
which, an objection may always be taken to any 
one of the jury originally. 

" How diametrically oppofite to the conftruc- 
tion of our facred laws has the Captain of the 
Romney been treated ! He could fcarcely ob- 
tain, permiffion to be prefent at the partial exa- 
mination of witneffes in this Court, in which the 

evidence 



* All ftores being in the charge of the Warrant Officers, they 
were the fitteft perfons to be examined as to their receipt and ex- 
penditure. 



15 

evidence of Warrant Officers was taken, and that 
of Commiffioned Officers refufed *. 

" Can fuch conduct tend in any manner to the 
maintenance of difcipline and fubordination, thofe 
proud pillars of our naval pre-eminence ; — and 
can any thing conduce fo much to its total anni- 
hilation, as calling on Officers to criminate their 
Captain, and debafe him in the pre fence of the 
very people who ought to look on him with the 
higheft refpecl ? Nay, here is an inftance of a 
fhip been thrown almoft into a ftate of mutiny t; 
and then an indirect appeal is made to the lower 
Officers and men, to come forward and accufe 
their Commander. 

" Although it is almoft two years fmce the re- 
pairs, fo much exaggerated, were done to the 
Romney, no letter or notice of difapproba- 
tion has ever been fent to me on the fub- 
je6t; nor, daring nearly three months that I 
have arrived in England, have I received 
any communication from the Admiralty J, re- 
fpefting either the neceffity or extent of thofe 
repairs : notwithstanding which, infinuations, un- 
juft, cruel, and ungenerous, have been propa- 
gated, apparently by the Admiralty, or its fubor- 
dinate agents, tending to make an unfavourable 
impreffion againft my conduct, without having 
any other means of redrefs than by giving a ftate- 
ment of the reports which have reached me, and 

fuch 

* The Captain of the Romney had certified, under his hand, 
that the repairs, ftated in the Builder's bill, had been performed : 
this enquiry only went to prove its correctnefs, confequently, 
there was no room, or ground for difcuilion with the Officers, who 
had merely to examine the work, faid to have been performed. 

t What a caricature ! Sir Home Popham accufing the late Sea- 
Lords of the Admiralty of encouraging mutiny. 

% The Admiralty ordered the proper Officers to examine and 
report on the enormous expence which had been incurred. 



16 

fuch fa£ts and circumftances as I am in poffeffiort 
of, to remove prejudice, and enable thofe who 
are fo difpofed, to form a judgment on the un- 
precedented treatment I have received fince 
my return from the Red Sea. It may be afked, 
why I have not feen the Firft Lord of the Admi- 
ralty? To this I can confcientioufly anfwer, that 
I have ufed every exertion to obtain that honour. 
I have repeatedly called; I have preffed my claim, 
through his private Secretary, and fupported it by 
letters in the flrongeft language I could ufe. As 
fuch teftimonies exift of the propriety of repairing 
the fhip, and that no work was done but what was 
absolutely necefTary, and thofe teflimonies drawn 
from the very channels of the Admiralty, would 
it not manifeft a clear and generous conduct, 
to tranfmit a copy to me, which I was origi- 
nally promised by the Committee, but after- 
wards refufed *? With regard to the hull of 
the fhip, nothing can be more conclufive, except 
the depofitions of the Warrant Officers as to my 
care of the flores t; and even, if necefTary, I 
would call on every Officer in the King's fer- 
vice, who has done me the honour of vifiting the 
Romney, to flate, whether they ever wifhed to fee 
more fyftem, order, or regulation, in any fhip, 
than appeared on board of that which I command- 
ed : and I know from public converfation at Cha- 
tham, that profeflional men were of opinion, that 

it 



* Almoft immediately after the Navy Board had made their 
report, directions were given, that Sir Home Popham mould be 
furnifhed with a copy of it ; and fince that period there has been 
no more ranting on the occafion. 

f See Navy Board Report, pages 28, 29, 32, 33, 34* 35* 
36, and 42, and extracts from the Boatfwain's expence-book ia 
the Appendix, 



17 

it was impoflible for more care to be taken of the 
prefervation of any fhip than was taken of the 
Romney; I felt a pride in keeping her always in 
an efficient ftate; and fhe was ever ready for any 
fervice at a moment's warning. 

" After the circulated reports about this fhip'3 
repairs, I cannot avoid quoting the three different 
heads of it, though that is a matter with which I 
have no concern*. The Naval Officer eflablifhed 
at Calcutta by Admiral Rainier, who is to all in- 
tents and purpofes, ex officio, a refident Com- 
miffioner of the Navy, paid the bills, I conclude, 
on the vouchers being produced. To him I ap- 
plied for every article of ftores, which it was my 
duty to have done under every circumftance, but 
more particularly on that occafion, as the Admiral 
fent a letter to me, at Calcutta, ftating the official 
fituation of that Gentleman, and fpeaking of him 
in fuch high terms of panegyric, that I fubjoin a 
copy of it. 

Extract from Vice A dmiral Rain ier's Letter^ t$ 
Sir Home Popham, K. M. 

" 1 mail be greatly obliged to you for a copy 
of your ingenious telegraph fignalsf, when oppor- 
tunity offers of fending them to me. The late 
Rear Admiral Blanket, whofe death I fincerely 
deplore, was an excellent judge of fuch inven- 
tions and improvements. 

C « Mr. 



* Perhaps there is fcarce an Officer in the King's fervice * 
that would not have felt a lively concern in fuch a repair, wher e 
the public purfe was to be thrown Open to interefted individuals. 

f Vive la bagatelle toujours ! ! Why introduce thefe ingenious 
telegraph fignalsj when an exiracl o n ly of the Admiral's letter is 
given, in order to explain tbefma t i on fMr. Louis? 



18 

" Mr. Matthew Louis, Deputy Naval Officer 
at Calcutta, is brother to Captain Thomas Louis, 
one of the heroes of the Nile, and every way a 
deferving character, which was my fole motive 
for procuring that fituation for him ; and he really 
appears to be an aclive well-informed perfon." 

The following is the extract from the Carpen- 
ter's bill for repairs, alluded to in the preceding 
page :— 

« The head for planks, timber- 
wood of different defcriptions f 

iron, copper-bolts, copper for 

three meets round the fhip,&c. Rupees. £.Sterl. 

&g. &c. about 30,000=35750 

?* Labour ofEuropeans and black 

workmen, caulking infide and 

out, and all the repairing abaft 15,000=1582$ 
ec The hire of veffels to receive 

the people, of budgerows and 

boats to carrv the ftores and 

bring anchors and cables over, 

Sec. &c. Sec 15,000=1,825 

* ; To this the builders always add a per centage, 
as is thecuftom of the place, and generally known; 
in fhort, the whole was 7 1,000 rupees, fcarce 9,000!. 
fterling *. 

« Thefc 

* Scarce nine thoufand pounds fterling! Indeed!! onlj 
nine thoufand pounds. Why, Sir Home, the Romney, when new, 
coil fcarce twenty-two thoufand pounds ; and for this trifling jum 
of nine thoufand pounds, what was done ? On examining the 
particulars of the Carpenter's bill, which is in the Appendix, 
you will not find that a fingle timber, beam, or knee was fhifted, 
nor any othe*- <work done, that could be denominated repair, ex- 
cept the fhifting fome planks of her wales and top-fides. The re- 
pairs and ftores of the Senfible and Romney, in one year, it appears, 
coft fcarce fe<venty-fi<ve thoufand pounds — a mere trifle to be fure ; 
neverthelefs, let it be remembered, that the Navy of England, at 

that 



19 

" Thefe were the repairs which have been 
flated to be fo enormous; but in doing which, as 
I already obferved, I was in no-wife perfonalhy 
interefted, further than as every Officer fhould be 
for the benefit of the fhip he commands, and for 
the prefervation of the lives of his Majefty's ufeful 
fubjects committed to his care*. 

U Were it not from an apprehenfion of calling 
in queflion the a&s of my brother Officers, it 
w T ould be highly fatisfaclory to me, that a contraft 
fhould be made with other fhips, by the refult of 
which, I have no doubt, it would be found, that 
thofe repaired at Calcutta, exceed by one fourth, 
to one half, what the Rornney coft without being 
in fo ferviceable a Hate as that fhip was on her ar- 
rival in England. — Vide Oiffeau, Heroine, La 
Forte, &ct. 

" Although I was confident that any Lord of 
the Admiralty, Secretary, or Commiffioner of the 
Navy, might adminifter oaths on fubje&s relating 

C 2 tO 



that rate, would coft full twenty millions per annum for 
repairs and Jfores only, exclufive of wages, provifions, and ord- 
nance ftores! ! ! Scarce nine thousand pounds ! ! When 
the prefTure of the taxes in this country is fo feverely felt by 
all ranks, it is a matter of deep regret, that thoufands can be at 
liich difpofal, and fo lightly treated. 

* All good Officers mould, and do feel interefted, that juftice 
mould be done to the public ; and it more particularly behoves 
them to be circumfpecl in their demands and expenditure, where 
ftores are purchafed by an individual whofe profits depend on a per 
centage on his expenditure, as was the cafe with the Acling Naval 
Officer at Calcutta. 

t Admitting what you fay to be the fact, it proves nothing, 
.Hnlefs you can mew that thefe fhips had not more work done to 
them than was done to the Romney ; and even if you fhould 
prove that, by what maxim or law is one unwarrantable, or pro- 
fligate deed, to be juftified, by the precedent of another having 
been fuffered to pafs with impunity ? 



20 

to the King's treafures or (lores, yet I confidered 
the whole conduct of the Admiralty in this affair 
to be fo ungracious and fo unconftitutional *, 
taking that word in its liberal conftru&ion, that I 
determined to folicit the opinion of Counfel, on 
the beft mode of bringing the points at iflue to 
an immediate and impartial difcuflion ; for after 
what I have heard, and from a letter which I 
have received, and which I may poflibly be in- 
duced to fubjoin, it appears to me, that every ac- 
tion has been dictated by a fpirit of perfonal pre- 
judice. 

"It would certainly have been equally decor- 
ous, and have manifefted a due regard for the 
character of an individual, had the Admiralty 
directed the following or fimilar queftions to have 
been afked of the Captains and Lieutenants of the 
fhips which ferved in the Red Sea: — 

" What was the general condud of Sir Home 
Popham, in the Red Sea ? 

" Did he appear to you to keep his fhip in fo 
perfect a ftate, as to be ready for fervice of any 
defcription at a moment's warning ? 

" Did he ever appear to you to make any wan- 
ton or unneceffary expenditure of the ftores ? 

" Did he ever appear to you to make any re- 
pairs, at any one time, that were not abfolutely 
neceffary ? 

" Did you ever hear, fee, or underftand, that 
any one ad of his, either in the interior difcipline 

of 



* Very ungracious certainly, in prefuming to enquire into 
jour conduct : but what will you fay, Sir Home, to that <vile Re- 
port of the Na'vy Board, which fully justifies all thefe un- 
gracious proceedings f Very unconjlitutional truly, to enquire bvw 
the public money had been expended ! ! 



21 

of the fhip he commanded, or in his general con* 
duel:, as Commanding Officer of the Red Sea, was, 
in the moft trifling degree, impeachable ? 

"If I might be allowed to put any queftion, I 
mould afk, 

" Whether they ever faw a fhip in every point 
of view better anfwering the description of a man 
of war than the Romney, as to her interior dif- 
cipline, regularity, healthinefs, and Subordination, 
both of officers and men ? 

" The preceding narrative is fubmitted to the 

confederation of Mr. , who is requejied to 

jlate, in the moft unrejerved manner, what the Cap- 
tain of the Romney ought to do. He is very 
anxious, if it be poftible and confident, to bring this 
treatment to an open difcujfion infome Court, efpe- 
cially if an aclion of conf piracy will lie. 

OPINION. 

" I have perufed, with all the attention I am 
mafter of, the foregoing very interefting narrative, 
or ftatement of Saels ; and although they can leave 
no doubt in my mind, as to there having been 
much undue, unworthy, and a moft unprofeffional 
fpirit of perfonal oppreffion, by men to whom the 
Crown has confided power, yet I feel consider- 
able difficulty in advifing the meafures which ought 
to be adopted by the oppreffed party : becaufe to 
acl, and not with effect, would only expofe him 
to further aggreffion. At prefent the aggreffors 
mull feel themfelves hurt and difappointed to the 
utmoft, upon finding thefe Schemes of malevolence 
injured, and their expectations difappointed, by 
the integrity, the judgement, and officer-like con- 
duct of the party againft whom their arrows were 

directed; 



22 

directed; and if they cannot be attacked with 
effect, we mould confider whether it may not be 
more prudent to leave them in their prefent fiate 
of difappointment and chagrin, rather than by 
making a fruitlefs attempt, expofe our feeble ef- 
forts to their derifion. 

" Our laws, notwithftanding their boafted ex- 
cellence, are, neverthelefs, grievoufly defective 
in many mod effential points : great oppreffion 
and injuftice may be praclifed ; a man's peace of 
mind may be deftroyed, his character blafted, his 
fortune ruined; and yet, unlefs the conduct of the 
aggreffor be of fuch a peculiar nature as to bring 
it within fome ftatute, and be againft fome politive 
rule of common law, it would be in vain for the 
injured party to apply for protection to the tri- 
bunal of his country. 

" I am clearly of opinion, that no action at law 
would lie againft Sir William Rule and the reft 
who degraded themfelves in the difgraceful fcene 
mentioned in the foregoing narrative, on the 
grounds of forming a confpiracy againft the Cap- 
tain of the Romney. 

" I underftand thefe Gentlemen are not any of 
them Commiffioners acting under the late Naval 
Abufe Act ; and, therefore, I have not fent for that 
Aft; and I am not exactly advifed as to the nature 
of the conftitution of the Navy Board, and their 
powers ; but by 1 Geo. I. cap. 25. fee. 9, 1 find, that 
not only the Lords Commiffioners ofthe Admiralty, 
but the Commiffioners ofthe Navy, have the power 
to act as JVIagiftrates, and to adminifter oaths in 
cafes relating to the receiving, keeping, and iffuing 
any victuals, ftores, or provifions of his Majefty's 
Navy, or in any other matter relating to the 
Navy; and by the 10th feci, the Treafurer, Comp- 
troller, 



23 

troller, Surveyor, Clerk of the A6ls, or any one 
or more of them, are impowered to exercife the 
powers of that Act in all places. 

" Under the circumftances of the cafe, though a 
cafe of confiderable hardfhip, I am not prepared 
to fay, that the ungracious acls done under the 
dire&ion of the Admiralty in this cafe, are fuch 
as can be termed wholly illegal; or that their in- 
formality is fo material and tangible as to furnifh 
the Captain of the Romney any remedy at law; 
and therefore I would confine the ufe of narrative 
to removing the prejudices which the Acls in quef- 
tion are calculated to produce, by putting it into 
the hands of fuch friends in power as, by their in- 
fluence, and from their zeal for the injured party, 
may be difpofed to prevent the further evil effecls 
of the latent difcuflions and infidious infinuations, 
fojuftly complained of throughout the narrative*." 

[Here follow copies of the letters which he wrote to Lord St. 
Vincent, in order to obtain an interview, and of several letters to 
and from Marquis Wellefley, &c. on the fubject of his diplomatic 
exertions, &c. &c] 

■■ — ' ■ ■ ' " ■ • - ' j» 

We now come to that excellent maxim of our 
laws audi alteram partem, entreating Sir 
Home's pardon for borrowing thefe words from hrs 
Pamphlet : How far his diplomatic arrangements 
will ftand the teft of inveftigation, the Government 
of India alone can determine; at prefent we mail 
C 4 only 

* This elegant compofition needs no comment ; if the' learned 
G entleman from whom it came is poffefled of any honourable feelings, 
the compunction of his own mind, after having read the Report of 
the Navy Board, will be the fevereft rebuke that he can receive. 

It is to be lamented, that Sir Home did not favour the public 
with the name of this Gentleman, who could go fo far out of the 
way of his profeffion, to traduce the Board of Admiralty, and ar- 
raign its conduct upon a partial ftatement of facts, the accuracy 
of which mould have been doubted, from the afperity with which 
they were related. 



only confider his conduct as Captain of the Rom- 
ney, contrafting it with his affertions, " that he 
took every care of "the King's (lores, and never 
made any wanton or " unneceffary expenditure of 
them ;" and 

" Mark now, how a plain tale JJjall put him down.'' 

To WILLIAM MARSDEN, Efq. 

^ Sir, Navy Board, 20th February, 1804. 
ct IN obedience to the directions of the Right 
Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the 
Admiralty, signified in Sir Evan Nepeans Let- 
ter of the 16th- May, 1803, ^ r William Rule, 
one of the Surveyors of the Navy, proceeded to 
Chatham, with directions to take to his affiftance 
the Officers of the Dock-yard at that place, and 
make a very minute infpection of his Majesty's 
ship the Romney, for the purpofe of ascertaining 

* the nature and extent of the feveral works per- 
4 formed on that fhip in the Eaft Indies, for which 
6 the very large fums of money * drawn by Mr. 

* Louis, on this Board, by order of Sir Home Pop- 
6 ham, were paid; to examine on oath the Warrant 

* Officers, as to the aclual ftate of that fhip when 
6 the works were undertaken; and to make a full 

* and circumftantial report of the nature of the re- 

* pairs performed on the laid fhip, iiftinguifhing 
6 the value of the materials from the 1 jour, as alfo of 
' the ftores and furniture purchafed for the faid fhip.' 

" Sir Evan Nepean having, in his letter of the 
17th May, fignified, that as, from the duties re- 
quired of the Surveyors of the Navy under the 
prefent circumstances, the continuance of Sir 

William 

* Bills on account of the Romney and Senfible for repairs and 
itores, amounted to 533,235 ficca rupees, or^.71,098 fterling, 
to which add £.3,554 1 % s. charged as commiflion thereon by 
the acting ^aval Officer, Mr, Louis. 



William Rule at Chatham, daring the "whole of 
the time which may be required for the examina- 
tion of the Romney, might be attended with in- 
convenience to his Majefty's fervice, we were to 
order him, after paffing one day at Chatham, and 
inftrucling the Officers as to the manner of con- 
ducting themfelves in refpect to the faid furvey 
and examination, to return to town. Sir William 
accordingly returned to town the next day; and 
as he was ihortly afterwards ordered to proceed 
to Riga, his name is not affixed to the report con- 
taining the result of the examination of the Com- 
miffioner and Officers at Chatham, which we for- 
warded to Sir Evan Nepean on the 5th July, to- 
gether with copies of the feveral papers therein 
referred to, and of the original vouchers tranf- 
mitted by Mr. Louis, for the expence incurred 
on the ship in the Eaft Indies. 

;; Sir Evan Nepean having further fignified to us 
in his Letter of the 3d July, their Lordfhips' di- 
rections, to let them know what fums of money 
were drawn from Bengal on account of the fliips 
under the orders of Sir Home Popham, and for 
what purpofes thofe fums appear to have been 
drawn, giving their Lordfhips all the information 
on this fubjeS which the documents in this office 
may enable us to afford ; we enclofe, agreeably 
to thofe directions, an account of the expenditure 
of eighty thoufand eight hundred and thirty-three 
pounds five millings and four-pence fterling (B. 1.), 
being the amount of the fums drawn by Mr. Louis, 
late a&ing Naval Officer at Calcutta, for the fliips 
under the orders of Sir Home Popham, diftin- 
guifhing the different heads under which the fame 
has been difburfed, and offering fuch obferva- 
tions upon each head of expenditure, as arife out 
of the examination of the documents in this office. 

" In 



26 

" In obedience to their Lordfhips' directions, 
fignified by Sir Evan's Letter of the 24th Septem- 
ber. 1803, we alio enclofe a ftatement of the ir- 
regularities which appear upon the mufter-books 
of his Majefly's fhip Romney, ending 2d June, 
1803, when fhe was paid off (B. 2.); and their 
Lordfhips having directed us, by Sir Evan Ne- 
pean's Letter of the 30th December, 1803, to 
ftate every circumftance refpe&ing the repairs 
both of the Senfible and Romney, and alfo the 
expenditure and fupply of ftores on board of 
thofe fhips, that have come to our knowledge du- 
ring the inveftigation of the Surveyor of the 
Navy and the Commiffioners and Officers at 
Chatham, or from any other enquiries or exami- 
nations that have taken place in confequence of 
their Lordfhips' directions, we requeft you will 
pleafe to flate to their Lordfhips as follows : — 

ROMNEY. 

« The bills for the purchafe of the ftores for 
refitting, present u[e^ in lieu, and fea flore, have 
been referred to the Officers of Deptford-yard, 
to report their opinion thereon, and to flate where- 
in the quantities of the refpecl ive articles have ex- 
ceeded the proper proportion for the several pur- 
pofes for which they were demanded; and their 
Report (No. 1.), is annexed. 

« The Boatfwain's and Carpenter's ftores pur- 
chafed at Calcutta appear to exceed the allowed 
proportion for a 50 gun fhip for foreign fervice, 
the quantity stated in account (No. 2), the value 
of which, atCaxutta prices^ amounts to* 

« The 

* To the amount of 8014 rupees, or £.1068 10s. S<£. 



27 

« The excefs, in her fails, as well in the efta- 
blifhed number, as in the quantity of canvas for 
making them, is dated in No. 3 * : With refpect to 
the obfervations made by the Deptford Officers on 
the fupply of anchors and cables at Calcutta f , we 
have to obferve that, olfour anchors returned (one 
of which was put on board on her arrival in the 
Downs), three were marked with the King's mark; 
and, of the eight cables returned (one of which 
was alfo put on board on her arrival in the 
Downs), five proved to have been made in the 
King's yards, and the other three had been cut up 
in Chatham-yard,- and remanufactured before the 
enquiry took place. 

u To thefe reports we have to add, that the 
Romney was completed in her fiores to a twelve- 
month 's proportion in November 1800; and not- 
withstanding fhe was fupplied at the Cape of Good 
Hope in February 1801, with the {tores as per 
account, No. 4 J, it appears that (lores to the 

amount 

* To the amount of 4607 rupees, or £-614 5s. ^d. 

f Four anchors of 49 cwt. are allowed to 50 -gun fhips, and 
one bower and 1 coafting, in addition for the Eaft Indies. * It 
« feems extraordinary to want neatly the whole of them at one 
6 time.' 

* Eight cables and 1 coaftingare allowed to 50 -gun mips. 

* Five cables appear to have been fupplied at this time. 

1 Deptford Officers.' 



Canvas, new « 

old 

Rope of different fizes 

Fore-top-fail 

■ Gallant-fail 



Main-top-gallant-fails 

Royat . 1 

Spare top-mafts . . 3 

Sail-yards . . 1 

■ Gallant-mafts . . a 

Jib-boom . 1 

And a variety of other articles. 



667 yards. 
82 
1823 fathoms. 

x 

X 



28 

amount Of ELEVEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDREB 

and six pounds, per vouchers, Nos. 2, 5, 6, 
and 9, were purehafed for her at Calcutta, in No- 
vember and December 1801, which exceed in 
quantity a twelvemonth's proportion, to the amount, 
at the Calcutta prices, of one thousand six 

HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO POUNDS SEVEN- 
TEEN SHILLINGS AND TEN-PENCE, as ftated ill 

Accounts, Nos. 2 and 3, besides the ftores in lieu, 
which coft two thou/and three hundred pounds, per 
vouchers, Nos. 3 and 7, and the ftores under the 
head of prefent ufe, and for refitting the fhip, 
amount to ^-346, as per Vouchers, Nos. 4 and 8. 
" On examining the accounts, we have been 
forcibly ftruck with the following circumftances, 
independent of the Deptford Officer s report and 
obfervaiions : namely, on the 1st October, i8oi 5 

FORTY HUNDRED WEIGHT of junk IS ftated tO 

have been purehafed to make /pun-yarn, and six 
hundred weight for the ufe of the carpenter, 
notwithstanding it appears, by Mr. Louis's ac- 
count of Sales (Nos. 14 and 15), four cables, 
two messengers, and ten lots of running 
rigging were fent on more to Mr. Louis, and 
fhe appears to have been fupplied with six 
thousand four hundred fathoms of new rope 
of various fizes, in lieu, and to replace the faid 
rigging; and it alfo appears that, in order to ac- 
count for the price charged (%s. 8d. per yard) 
for the new canvas purehafed to make sails (in- 
cluding eight for the large cutter) the making, the 
holt rope, the marline, the spun-yarn, the points, 
the robins, Sec. are comprehended, for which 
purpofes the condemned cables and rigging 
OUGHT to have been applied^ and that at leaft 

SOME 



m 

some of the points, robins, &c. from the old 
fails, might have been njed again, 

" Notwithftanding fails of every defcription are 
purchafed at Calcutta, in fome inftances exceed- 
ing even a proportion allowed for the ftation on 
which fhe was employed, as is more particularly 
pointed out in account No. 3 *), and, confequently, 
all the fails stated in Mr. Louis's account of fales, 
(No. 14), remaining on the Boat/wain s charge for 
converfion, before they were fent on more to Mr. 
Louis, we find one hundred yards of old canvas 
were then purchafed for the ufe of the Boat- 
fwain, and fifty yards of old and fifty yards 
of half-worn canvas, for the ufe of the 
Carpenter. The 100 yards of old canvas just 
mentioned, appear in the demand figned by the 
Captain^ Majhr, and Boat/wain ; and the Boat- 
fwain has given a receipt for the fame, in Voucher 
No. 4, the latter, however, fpeaking only from 
memory, and a confiderable diltance of time, de- 
clared on oath at Chatham, before Sir William 
Rule and Commiffioner Hope, (a copy of which 
affidavit was fent to Sir Evan Nepean, with our 
letter of 5th July laft), that he had neither demanded 
nor had he been fupplied with any worn canvas at 
Calcutta. Independently of a quarter-deck awn- 
ing, which, by the expence book appears to have 
been made on the 18th June, 1801, of 200 yards, 
of No. 3, with a curtain for the same, from 84 
yards of No. 6, and a poop awning, on the 6th 
Auguft, of 130 yards of new canvas, No. 5, we 
find purchafed at Calcutta, in November 1801, 
(voucher No. 2), of new European canvas, 

1 fet 

* In all three thoufand three hundred and Jixty-fi-ve yards. 



30 

1 set of awnings of . . 841 yards 
Besides a quarter-deck and poop 

awning of . 320 

1 awning for launch . yo 

2 large cutter 120 

i : — — fmall cutter 40 

42 fand lags . . 42 

120 boats fenders • . 80 



Total 1513 
at 3^. %d. per yard, which is the same price as 
is charged for the fails complete, with bolt rope, 
points, &c. as before Mated, SEVENTY-THREE 
POUNDS is alfo charged for a SMOKE-SAIL*! ! ! 
The Boatfwain had fix awnings on board; when his 
remains were furveyed there were alfo purchafed 
For awning curtains - 233 yards 

For wind-fails - - - -' 316 
For hammock-cloths, in two sets, 1509 

2058 yards 
at %s. 4-d. per yard ; and moreover, 524 yards of 
canvas in 350 fmall portmanteaus, and 963 yards 
in 352 large portmanteaus, at 3^. ^.d. per yard, 
the application or ufe of which we are at a lofs to 
guefs, as it appears by the Boatfwain's remains, 
taken atSheernefs, in November, 1800, that there 
were then 289 havrefacks for her men's clothes 
remaining on his charge, and we conclude that 
the men on board were then amply fupplied, from 
no more having been demanded when her ftores 
were completed for foreign fervice; befides which, 
we find eight bolts of European canvas charged in 

the 

* About fix yards fquare, to be hoifted when the {hip 
was at anchor, and riding head to wind, to prevent the fmoke 
of the galley from blowing aft on the quarter-deck, and is 
ufually made of any old canvas. 



31 

the Ship-builder's bill for miking fcreens for the 
Officers cabins, and rudder coats. There is 
ftated to have been purchafed 648 new canvas 
hammocks, at 13^. 4^/. each; yet we find fixteen 
old hammocks purchafed for the ufe of the Boat- 
fwain, at gs. 4^. each, when 53 hammocks are 
ftated to have been returned in lieu, and which ap- 
pear to have been replaced with others at 13^. 4^/, 
each, by the accounts. 

<c In the annexed Statement, (No. 13,) made by 
the Officers of Portfmouth yard on minutely exa- 
mining the Boatfwain's expence-book. (which cor- 
refponds with the counterpart delivered by the Cap- 
tain,) various articles of stores to a very large 
amount are faid to have been expended in the 

MOST EXTRAORDINARY MANNER, and HOt nOtlC- 

ed in the log ; to which we reque/i their Lord/Lips' 
particular attention, more efpecially to the items 
of expenditure on the following days, with the 
remarks made thereon by the Portfmouth Officers, 
and to the circumftances connected therewith, 
as ftated in the log, and in the Captain's and Lieu- 
tenant's journals, viz. 

16th July, 1800, 

15th September, — — 

24th September, 

10th November, 

18th January, 18015 

29th 'March, 

4th May, 

12th July, 

25th July, 

24th Auguft, — — and 

22d September, 

In addition to the above we have to notice, that 
by the logon the 11th Auguft, 1801, 6 it is ftated, 

6 that, 



32 

* that, in heaving up the beft bower, at five A. M; 

* carried away the meflenger and all the (toppers* 
4 and upftt the bitts, cut the cable in the splice* 
< at fix A. M: 

« The Boatfwain expends this cable on the 1 2th, 
Hating it to have been parted ; in confequence 
of which we have called on the Carpenter to ftate 
how the accident happened to the bitts, what damage 
they fuftained) and where the fame was made good; 
but have not been able to gain the defired infor- 
mation, as he reprefents himfelf (No. 5) to have 
been ill in his cot at the time. We neverthelefs 
think k proper to remark, that there is no expence 
of ftores of any kind made by the Carpenter on 
account of repairing the bitts; nor do they appear 
to have been repaired by the log; neither does it 
appear to have been done by the Merchant-builder 
at Calcutta. We have been equally unfuccefsful 
in gaining any explanation on this fubjeft: from the 
Boatfwain; who, however, on being called upon 
to (late what became of the remainder of the cable 
which his expence-book faid was ' parted,' and 
the log ; cut in the splice,' has declared (No. 6), 
(notwithftanding he had previously depofed on oath, 
at Chatham, before Sir William Rule and Com- 
miffioner Hope, that he knew of no improper expen- 
diture of fores), that the remainder was used for 
caulking the ship;* and that Mr. Davis, the 
Firit Lieutenant, hindered him from taking a receipt 
for it from Meffrs. Hudfon and Co. the Ship-build- 
ers, alledging that it was all expended. 
And here it is proper to observe, that the anchor 
expended is of 50 cwt. 1 qr. and that, by Sheerness 

Officers 

* In Hudfon and Bacon's bill there is a charge of 249 rupees 
for oakum, to which is modejlly added 20 per cent, as their 

JPROFXT QN THE PRIME COST ! ! ! 



33 

Officer's report, it appears me had only one an- 
chor of 50 cwt. on board when fhe failed for In- 
dia, which was afterwards returned at Chatham ; 
and it no where appears that any anchor of that 
weight was purchafed, nor that the one faid to be 
loft was recovered ! ! 

" Mr. Louis has tranfmitted accounts of fales 
by public auction, Nos. 14 and 15, herewith for. 
warded, of various ftores fent on fhore to him 
from the Romney. In thefe accounts there is no 
mention of the two anchors of 28 and 27 cwt. 
faid to have been returned at Calcutta. Although 
no receipt is produced from Mr. Louis for thefe 
anchors, for the reafon ftated in Sir Home Pop- 
ham's Certificate, viz. his being abfent from Cal- 
cutta when they were fent on fhore •, we judge it necef 
fary to write to Mr. Louis to enquire after them. 

" On examining MefTrs. Hudfon and Co.'s bills 
for the repairs of the fhip, we find a charge made 
for oakum for caulking, notwithftanding the large 
quantities of old cables and cordage, fent out of 
the (hip *. 

" The Boatfwain, on being further interrogated, 
if any fimilar tranfatlions with refpecl to the expen- 
diture of any other defcription of ftores had taken 
place, has anfwered (No. 7), that he had not at- 
■tended any returns of fores, nor does he know in 
what manner the new ones were purchafed, as the 

NOTES ALWAYS CAME TO THE FlRST LIEUTE- 
NANT. 

" We cannot help noticing, in this part of the 

examination, that it appears in the Portfmouth 

D Officer's 

* And they might have added, without running much rljk of 
being fuppofed to have acted under the influence of 1 the reign of 
terror, 5 the remains of the bovoer-cable, vuhich ivere delivered to 
Hudfon and Bacon by the direction ofths Firjl- Lieutenant Mr. Davis. 



3i 

Officer's remarks on 26th May, 1801, (No. 10L 
there was expended between the periodof her outfit, 
viz. from $tb Dec. 1800, to i^th May, 1801, an ex- 
cefs of the ftores therein particularized, more than 
a proportion for twelve months, as ftated in No. 8*, 
and the Boatfwain appears to have expended, be- 
fore he received any fupply of thefe articles, more 
than were on his charge, as ftated in No. 9 1. 
" The Officers of Chatham-yard having no- 
ticed the very great quantity of rope expended on 
account of seizing, tailing, and {trapping, we have 
subjoined an account thereof (No. 10), which, in 
the f pace of 14 months, has amounted to no less 

THAN THREE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED fathoms 

of various fizes ; nevertheless, if the zvhole of these 
enormous and extraordinary expences are al- 
lowed, there will remain a debt for ftores, on a 
ilatement made by the Boatfwain's account, be- 
tween %th July, 1800, and Sth February, 1802, 
of no lefs a fum than FIVE THOUSAND 
SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO 
POUNDS EIGHT SHILLINGS AND FOUR- 
PENCE, of which the Boatfwain can give no fur- 
ther account ; but he has produced in his justi- 
tication a certificate of his character from Sir 
Home Popham, (No. 1 1) J. 

« We 

No. 8,*Canvas . 469 yards. 



Rope 

Twine 

Tailow 

Junk 

Laming 

No. 9. f Canvas 
Rope 
Junk 



1,520 fathoms. 
17 pounds. 



• " 29 cwt. 

700 fathoms. 
276 yards. 

690 fathoms of various fizes, 
4 cwt. 



\ < That he had discharged his ditty as becoming 
< A WORTHY GOOD OFFICER!!!' The certificate re 
dated the 2d of June, 1803 ; the examination by Sir Wm. Rule, 
&c, at Chatham, took place on the 1 8 th of May preceding-. 



35 

4< We are unable to form any opinion as to the 
propriety of the prices charged for the articles (ap- 
plied, not having the means of learning their va- 
lue, excepting fuch articles as appear in Mr. 
Louis's Accounts of Sales of the Stores returned 
from the Romney, Nos. 14 and 15, wherein it ap- 
pears, that eighty-five hammocks are fold for 
two rupees and one anana, whilft, in Mr. Louis's 
bill, old hammocks are charged at tzvo rupees 
each! In Mr. Louis's bill, junk is charged at 28 
rupees the cwt. whilft, for three cables returned 
from the fhip, credit is given for an average of 
ten rupees and ten ananas only the cwt. ; old canvas 
is charged at 8 ananas, or i6d. per yard, whilft 
by Mr. Louis's account, the fails returned from 
the Romney were fold for less than three far- 
things per yard, and excepting alfo the price of 
the vinegar, which we are informed by the Com- 
miffioners for Victualling is furnifhed by their 
Contractors to the mips in want thereof at Cal- 
cutta for £.38. 5 j. t$d. per ton, whilft the charge 
for two tons of Vinegar,purchafed for the Romney, 
is one: hundred and sixty-seven pounds 
eight shillings. It appears, likewife, that a 
charge of £.1575 is made by Meffrs. Hudfon and 
Bacon for the hire of a brig and three floops, and 
for budgrow and boat hire for the reception of 
flores, and the accommodation of workmen, while 
the fhip was refitting, for tranfporting guns, an- 
chors, (hot, fick people, officers, and men on 
duty, condemned ftores, entered men and de- 
ferters, to and from Diamond Harbour, and for 
two boats, of the propriety of which we have no 
means of judging, further than that it appears in 
the account for the repairs of the Eaft-India Com- 
pany's fhips that there is likewife a very heavy 
charge for floop and boat hire, which has been 
D 2 allowed 



56 

allowed by the Marine Board. In addition to 
what has been before ftated, we beg leave to ob-- 
ferve, that we find the articles now in {lore, which 
-were returned at Chatham (No. 12), do not cor- 
respond with the dimenjions or JIze charged in 
Meffrs. Hudfon and Bacon's bills ; and we mult 
alfo notice, that the demands for the Boat- 
swain's and Carpenter's ftores for the Rom- 
ney, are dated 1st October, 1801, and every 
article therein contained is inferted in the Boat- 
fwain and Carpenter's Supply Books, and the Cap- 
tain's counterparts thereof, notwithstanding it ap- 
pears by the log, 12th November, 1 80 1 , that ftores 
were returned, not being able to flow them, none 
of which have, however, been taken out of the 
Boatfwain's and Carpenter's receipts, nor the value 
deducted from Messrs. Hudfon and Bacon's bills y 
in which are retained every article inferted in the 
demands*) and what appears not lefs extraordinary^ 
are the demands for fundry ftores for the Boat* 
fwain and Carpenter, vouchers Nos. 5 and 9, figned 
by the Captain? Mafter, Boat/wain, and Carpenter, 
(fubfequent to the return of ftores above alluded 
to) for which the Boatfwain and Carpenter have 
given receipts annexed to the faid vouchers, dated 
3d December, whilft the Bills for the amount there- 
of, in zvhich they are all particularized, are dated 
1 oth November, twenty-four days before the de- 
mands WERE MADE FOR THEM, and tO which 

bills are attached the fame fort of certificates from 
the merchants, as are found to the other bills, re~ 
fpecting their having been purchafed at the market 
price, none of which ftores are noticed as having, 
been received on board, either by the log-book, or 
journals, nor has the Boatfwain debited himfelf 
with the European Cable therein charged at five 

hundred 
* SIR HOME POPHAM." 



37 

hundred and ninety tzvo pounds eight /hillings ^ nor is 
the receipt thereof not iced^in either his, or the Cap- 
tain's Supply Book. Withrefpect to the repair 
of the faid fhip, and that of the boats, it will ap- 
pear by the account of the Chatham Officers, here- 
with sent, marked (A. No. 5, A. No. 18 *.) 

• SEN- 



TJ EL 


n °^ 






- a. O 


~3 ... 


?sS- 


-. P <-! 


-• = ^< 


Co ■£■ 


B'S'fc 


ft-' -1 s 




- B-» 


eg 6£ if 


nous that th 
Is produced 
<r/^/3/> at Cal 


iff ■ 

p- 3 ^ 
§ *- 


^-: n 


" 3 *H 


J 5 3 « 


» 2. 


ce of fh 

the Cou 

as in £ 




Scr » 


ip-build 
ntry, ai 
ngland. 


Er~ ; ^ 
S 3'<~*> 

n> 7 

►-s p 


p- 3 


^ 


5: - 


B *»*§• 


3- 0- 


,J" « 


jo 


d^ 3 a 




2 « &- 


-5 SO 


~g^ 


O W 


H 





£>1 


M ^ 


sv*» 


<t> ^ 


* ii 


0- 3 
3 3» 


3 3 

P-vT^ 


3^5- 




«3 


* 3 


C P- 


3 3 


*"* ^.- 


P- 


£ 3 
S ft 

-s 

ft E 


si * 

i ^o 


C/3 


C P- 




ID 
3 


3 O 


00 


w 


« ^ 




<J l — ' 


CO rt- 






3 1* 


O 


SO — • 


f* C 






3 3 
j 1 


© 



4». en 



00-© 



# 
03- 



CO «^ 

c 3! 



so s* 






-*• ' 

M en 

ON • 
W 8. 



~2S 

ON 



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o S^ 



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GO 

o 

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a 

o 



38 



SENSIBLE. 

K The bills for the purchafe of the ftores 
for refitting, prefent ufe, in lieu, and lea ftore 
for this fhip, have alfo been referred to Deptford 
Officers to report their opinion thereon, and to 
ftate wherein the quantities of the refpeclive 
articles have exceeded the proper proportion 
for the feveral purpofes for which they were de- 
manded, and by their report it appears as fol- 
lows, viz. 

" The rope, &c. expended in the outfit, exceed 
the allowed proportion for a 32 gun fhip, the 
quantities ftated in account No. 1*. 

" The excejs in her fails, as well in the efta- 
blifhed number as in the quantity of canvas for 
making them, as ftated in No. 2t. 

" The feveral coils of rope and articles of Boat- 
fwain's (lores exceed a proportion for twelve 
months foreign fervice, notwithstanding the order 
from Sir Home Popham, directs only fix months 
ftores to be taken on board, as ftated in No. 3 J. 

" And the feveral articles of Carpenter's ftores 
exceed a proportion for tzvelve month s, as ftated in 
No. 4§. 

" In addition to which the Officers have re- 
marked, that it appears to them extraordinary 
that all her bower anchors, as well as five cables, 
fhould have been exchanged at one time; which 
is, however, explained by Captain Saufe, (No. 5,) 
but it does not appear whether any of thefe 

anchors 



* Value 13,779 rupees, or £.1,837 4-f- 
+ Value 5610 rupees, or £.748 
% Value 4390 rupees, or £.585 6s. %d. 
\ Value 5255 rupees, or £-700 13s, 4^* 



39 

anchors were received by the acting naval officer, 
no account having been yet received from him 
with respect to them. 

" With respecl: to the demands made by Cap- 
tain Saufe on the acling naval officer for ftores, 
we have to obferve, that the Senfible, when fhe 
failed from the Downs, on 28th November, 1800, 
was completed to a 32 gun fhip's proportion of 
ftores for for eignfervice, and received at the Cape 
of Good Hope, in February, 1801, the Boat- 
fwain and Carpenter's ftores ftated in No. 6 *. 

" On examining the papers received from 
Captain Saufe, and the account of ftores purchafed 
at Calcutta, we have been forcibly (truck with 
the following circumftances, in addition to what- 
has been pointed out by Deptford Officers : notwith- 
ftanding the fhip was completely refitted in every 
article of ftanding and running rigging, and fup- 
plied with five cables, and confequenfly, the 
cables and rigging which were enumerated in the 
account of fales, No. 13, and 14 t, remained for 

D 3 conver- 

* Canvas . , . 622 yards. 

Rope . . . 1,400 fathoms. 

Main -top -fail . . i 

■ Gallant-ilay-lail i 

Middle-ftay-faii . x 

Fore -top maft . 1 

Main-top-gal]ant-maft . i 

And a variety of other articles. 

f Among other items therein ilated to haverbeen fold, were 
Jour cables, viz. 

Fathoms. inches. ,ewt. qrs. lbs., 

1 of 81 of i7| 39 3 5 -j 
1 100 ioj- 1.6 1 10 ! which averaged under 

1 100 16J 45 1 20 J ten rupees per cwt. 

1 100 17J 47 3 17J 

Alfo 41 lots of Handing and running rigging. 
By thefe accounts of fales, it moreover appears, that, as well 
as jier fails and rigging, the guns alfo were fold, as follows :^~ 

iron 



40 

converfion before they were fent to Mr. Louis % 
there is dated to have been pur chafed thirty 
hundred weight of junk for the Boatfwain, 
two hundred weight of junk, and two 
hundred weight o f oak u m, for the Carpenter, 
one hundred and twenty-one coils of spun 

YARN 5 andsiX HUNDRED FATHOMS OF OLD ROPEj 

as (rated in No. 7*. 

" Independently of which it appears, the fails 
were purchafed complete with points and robins , 
and a price paid for them accordingly, notwith- 
standing there was purchafed for her more than 
the extra portion of fails allowed for the Eaft In- 
dia Ration (as ftated in No. 2), and confequently 
all her old fails remained to be difpofed of, as 
appears by Mr. Louis's account of the fale thereof, 
after they were fent to him, Nos. 13 and 14 1, we 
find 18 bolts of new country canvas were 
purchafed FOR PARCELLING THE RIG- 
GING, and new European canvas, for making 
480 hammocks, 1 1 hammock-cloths, 1 1 cots, a com* 
plete fuit of awnings for the fhip, with curtains, 
6 awnings and jive coverings for boats ; fore, main^ 
and mizen wind fails, bag 'for colours, and a 
smoke sail, as well as 30 yards of half worn 
canvas for the Carpenter, and 40 yards of old 
canvas for the Boatfwain, as Rated in No. 7, the 

total 

iron guns, with carriages, 1 6 nine-pounders, weighingeach about 2 7 
cvvt. at 100 rupees each, or ,£13. 6s. %d. for each gun and 
carriage; and 4 fix-pounders for 100 rupees each ; at the fame 
time, s° tons °f * ron ballaft tuere purchafed for her, at 100 rupees 
per ton, and the carriages alone for 28 twelve- pounders, taken on 
board in lieu, are charged at 120 rupees each, being 20 rupees 
more than the nine -pounders <xuere fold for, tvitb their carriages, &c. 

* Value 8,858 rupees, or £.1,181 is. ^d. 

f By thefe accounts of fales it appears, that fourteen lots ef 
fails were fold at lefs than a penny per yard, 



41 

total amount of all thefe accounts, is dated in 

No. 8*. 

« We are unable to form any opinion as to 
the propriety of the prices charged for the arti- 
cles fupplied, not having the means of learning their 
value, excepting fuch articles as appear in Mr. 
Louis's account of fales, Nos. 13 and 14, wherein 
it appears, that eighty-four old hammocks 
were fold for one rupee and twelve ananas. In 
Mr. Louis's bill, junk fupplied the Senfible is 
charged at 20 rupees the cwt., whilft the cables 
which were returned from her were fold for less 
than half that sum; and in Mr. Louis's bill; 
old canvas is charged at eight ananas, or i6d. 
per yard, whilft the Senfible's fails which were 
fent to him appear to have been fold for less 
than a penny per yard; and excepting alio 
the price of vinegar, which we are informed by 
the Commiffioners of the Victualling is furnifhed 
by their Contractor to the mips in want thereof 
at Calcutta at thirty eight pounds five JJjillings and 
five pence per ton, whilft the charge of one tun of 
vinegar (exclufive of the cafk), in Mr. Louis's ac- 
count, is no lefs than eighty three pounds 
fourten shillings. Meffrs. Hudfon and Bacon's 
charge for (loop and boat-hire for this fhip, is on 
the fame Jcale as that of the Romney, and fubject, of 
courfe, to a similar remark. To the above ob- 

fervations 

Sicca Rupees. Anas. Pice. 



* No. 


1 


. 


. 


. 


• 


i3>779 


14 


9 




2 


. 


. 


. 


. 


5,610 


10 







3 


. 


• 


. 


. 


4>39° 


10 







5 


. 


. 


. 


. 


5> 2 55 


6 







7 • 
erling 


: 


• 


• 


8,858 








Total 


37)894 


8 


9 


Pr ft 


£'5>°5* 


12s. 


if* 



42 

Nervations we have only to add, that the order from 
Sir Home Popham to Captain Saufe, (No. g,) for 
the repair and equipment ofthefhip*, ftates it to 
have been undertaken in confequence of 6 the re- 
* port of the Builder, No. 10, refpecting thewor- 
6 thinefs of the Senfible to be repaired and new cop- 
6 pered, from the opinion of Mr. Stoddart, the 
6 Naval Architect, then at Calcutta, that jhe had 
6 the fine jl bottom he ever f aw, and his, (Sir Home 
6 Pop ham's) own judgment, after a minute 
6 examination of her timbers in dock;* 
whilft by Capt. Saufe's letter, No. n, and the 
Builder's letter therein mentionedt (No. 12), it ap- 
pears that the alteration in her eftablifhment was 
not only determined on, before that examination 
took place, but that the mafts zndyards, and twofuits 
of fails, were aclually completed for he? , by order 
of Sir Home Popham, as a 3 2-gunJhip, BEFORE 
SHE HAD ARRIVED AT CALCUTTA!!! 

" MelTrs. Hudfon and Bacon have charged a com- 
mifiion of 20/. per cent, on the fum of 173,580 
rupees, or 21,697/. 10St tne amount of their bill 
for repairs, Sec. of the two mips ; and Mr. Louis has 
charged a commiffion of 5 /.per cent, on the amount 
of all his difburfements. The former appeared 
to us, on the firft view of it, to be a moft extra- 
vagant charge ) but we deem it proper to obferve, 

that 

* The order to Captain Saufe is dated the nth of O5lober 9 
2801, the furvey having been held the preceding day. 

f " Robert Saufe, Efq. Commanding H. M. S* Senfible : 
" Sir, 

4t We beg to inform you that, agreeable to Sir Rome Popham* 's 
orderly prior to your arrival, we have completed a fet of 
majls, jardSf and t<wo fulls of fails, to the dimenfions of a 3 a 

€UN SHIP. 

" We are, Sir, 

" Your moft obedient Servants, 
Calcutta, Sep. 1802. « HUPSON, BACON, and Co. 



43 

that, by accounts which have been furnifhed us by 
the Eaft- India Company, it appears that it is the 
ufual charge made by Merchant Ship-builders in 
Calcutta, for fimilar repairs and fupplies to the 
Company's or private fhips; and that it is approved 
by the Marine Board at Calcutta. With refpecl to 
Mr. Louis's charge of 5/. per cent, for his com- 
miffion, as he received no falary or other allow- 
ance for his fervices,but appears to be a merchant, 
refident at Calcutta, we do not confider this charge 
to be unreafonable. At the fame time it does not 
appear to us, as Meffrs. Hudfon and Co. were the 
perfons who furnifhed the ftores and performed 
the repairs, why the bills for their payment might 
not have been drawn by the refpeclive Captains, 
without the intervention of an agent, had it not 
been that Admiral Rainier had appointed Mr. 
Louis to acl as naval officer. 

" The obfervations which occur to us on Mr. 
Louis's Cafh Account, from the befl examination 
we have hitherto been able to make of it, the 
vouchers to which are in general very regular, are 
as follows, (viz.) 

6; Proper vouchers from the figning Officers of sion clothes 
the Slops pur chafed, having been received on aad e dlng * 
board, are produced. Mr. Louis has been di- 
rected to fend the receipts for the money paid, 
which he has omitted to do. 

" Bills of particulars, with receipts thereto, and v , Re P<*»rs, 
certificates from two perfons that the prices there- and materi! 
in charged were the current prices of the place, & ^ ppi ^ 
and produced agreeably to regulation, excepting {^^f 5 
for ftationary, for which bills of particular, with p^ing boats" 
receipts, are produced. 

" Some certificates are produced ; the fervice P-btage. 
appears generally to have been performed by the 

Company's 



Company's eftablifhed fervants for that purpofe, 
Moorings, and the receipts are all figned by C. Lane, Acling 
boTt<°fhi e - Marine Paymafter. Thefe fervices appear to 
lepers, &c. have been performed by perfons belonging to the 

Company ; fome certificates are produced ; the 
? bills are figned by Cuthbert Thornhill, Mafter- 

Attendant, or by G. French, Affiftant Deputy- 

Mafter Attendant, with receipt from C. Law, 

Acling Marine Paymafter. 
Bounty. " Lifts of the perfons entitled to the fame, with 

certificates from the Signing Officer, 
Boating && Thefe men appear to have been lodged and 
Mug of vo- victualled at the Marine Hofpital, at the rate of 
lunteers, one an ^ a j^j^ rU p ees p er day . ijft s containing the 

names of the men, with the time of their entry 
and difcharge; alfo the certificates from the Offi- 
cers of the Romney, that they were provided 
with board and lodging, and a receipt from the 
Agent of the Sick and Wounded at Calcutta for 
the amount, are produced. 

" We deem it neceflary to ftate further to their 
Lordfhips, that the Report has been formed from 
the documents in office, without our having called 
on Sir Home Popham, agreeably to our ufual 
mode, for an explanation on any of the circum- 
liances referred to therein, conceiving it to have 
been their Lordfhips' intention that we mould 
proceed in this manner. 

M We are, Sir, 
" Your very humble fervants, 
(Signed) " A. S. HAMMOND. 

« H. DUNCAN. 

« J. HENSLOW, 

« WM. RULE. 

« H.HARMOOD. 

« S.GAMBIER. 

« F. J. HARTWELL. 

« O. MARKHAM." 



45 

After having read this Report, it is fuppofed 
there are few men who will not be able to anfwer 
the queftions which Sir Home Popham had the te- 
merity to put to the late Firft Lord of the Admiralty, 
whilft the investigation was pending;* and, per- 
haps, there are few men who will not afk, why- 
Sir Home has not been brought to a fevere ac- 
count for the fcandalous tranfaclions developed 
in this Report. That fuch a reparation to the 
public awaited him is well known, and that it 
was only delayed until the Navy Board mould 
have made their report on his fubfequent expen- 
diture in the Red Sea; and the Commiffioners of 
Enquiry had carefully and minutely inveiiigated 
the circumftances of thefe extraordinary charges 
upon the public. 

We muft repeat what we have before obferved, 
that this Pamphlet would have been treated with 
filent contempt, had it not been one of the many 
means by which the character, zeal, and energy 
of the late Admiralty Board were fecretly traduced 
and mifreprefented. Sir Home may boafl of 
having had this mare in the honourable em- 
ployment ; and, is now, in fpite of the fufty 
Report of the Navy Board, become a Privy 
Counfellor, and diftinguiihed leader in the tiny- 
war of catamarans and fire-works; and has fuc- 
ceeded Sir Sidney Smith in the command of 

the 



* Did he ever appear to make any wanton or unneceiTary ex- 
penditure of (lores ? 

Did he ever appear to make any repairs, at any cae time, that 
were not abfolutely necelfary ? 

Did he ever hear, fee, or understand, that any one act of hiSj 
either in the interior discipline of the ihip he commanded, or i?> 
his general conducl, as Commanding Cfdcer of the Rt?d Sea. was 
in the moft trifling degree impeachable 1 



46 

the Antelope, no doubt, with a view of having 
the Boulogne blockading fquadron under his 
orders. 

London, 

24th November, 1864. 



P. &—> Since thefe meets have been in the 
prefs, it has been reported, that the accounts 
of Mr. Spearman, the Acting Naval Officer, 
for all the purchafes therein flated to have 
been made for the fhips in the Red Sea, have 
been paffed by the Navy Board, which, if true, 
will no doubt be confidered as a gracious fet-ojf 'to 
the former Report, when it is remembered, that 
Sir Home has admitted himfelf to be T in a certain 
degree, refponfible for Mr. Spearman's ads, from 
having given l)im the appointment; and it is 
known, that fo far from Mr. Spearman having 
purchafed, he never Jaw one of the stores enu- 
merated in fome of tint formerly rejecled vouchers, 
which, in faQ, were deficient of the proofs to {lamp 
their authenticity, or the necejjity of the pur chafes * 5 
that are indifpenfable, to draw fupplies of ftores 
from even the King's yards, where there is a refi- 
dent Commiflioner of the Navy; however, it mult 
be confeifed, that this accommodation forms a 
very piclurefque contrail with the ungracious and 

uncon- 

* The approbation of the Officer commanding the fquadron> 



47 

nnconliltutional conduct of the late Board of Ad- 
miralty, in dire&ing that thefe expenditures fhould 
be minutely inveftigated. 



Ex i rafts 



m 



Extractsfrom the Boatsxcains Expciice Boole, the Shifs Log, and Sir 



Time when 



1800. 
Aug. 16 



Sept. 1, 



24 



Stores expended, as per Boatswain's 
Expence Book. 



Blown away in a squall, ") Studding-sail 
by the boom's being > foregone in 
carried away, 3 number. 

Ditto, at the same time } Studding-sail 
by the boom and > fore-top, one 
haulyards breaking j in number. 



Blown away in a squall, by the boom's 
breaking : 

Fore-studding-sail, one in number 
Main ditto . . one 
Fore-top ditto . one 
Main-top ditto . one 



Blown away in squall, by the boom's 

breaking : 
Main-top-mast*studding-5ail ; one 

number 



By whose 
orders. 



By order 

of the 
Captain 



Ditto 



Ditto 



49 

• Home Pophdm's Journals, referred to in the Navy Board Report, 
REMARK S. 



15th August, by the log, blew away one signal-flag, No. 4, 
not noticed or expended in the Boatswain's expence book. 

" The log says, on the 14th, at 12 h. 5 m. P. M. set th* 
lower, top-mast, and top-gallant studding-sails ; out all 
reefs, carried away the fore,, and fore top-mast studding-sail, 
by the boom's breaking. Lieut. Henry Davis's journal does 
not mention any thing of the above accident." — Portsmouth 
Officers? 

" The Carpenter expends a jib-boom on this day , springs the fore- 
top-gallant-mast, and carries away one studding-sail-boom, and 
three studding-sail-yards. The Captains journal does not mention 
any accident whatever having happened on this day." — Navy Board. 

'* We beg to remark, that the log, on the lrith of August, 
between 12 and 4 P. M. * blowed away the main-top-gal- 
lant royal, by the pole breaking, and at 5 P. M. carried 
away the fore and mizen royals, by the poles breaking; it 
blowing fresh, was obliged to cut away the wreck/ Lieu- 
tenant Davis's journal does not notice these circumstances, 
nor does the Boatswain make any expence on the above ac- 
cidents. On the same day the log blows away a red en- 
sign, which is not noticed in the Boatswain's expence/' — 
Portsmouth Officers. 

u The Captain's Journal does not mention the loss of any article of 
stores whatever, or any accident ; it states the weather to be light 
airs and hazy. At 8. 45. P. M. up anchor and made sail up the 
Cattegat ; made and shortened sail occasionally, got down top- 
gallant-yards', at 8. 45. saw the Anholt Light."— -Navy Board. 

" By the log it appears to he fine weather, and the shipott 
a wind." — Portsmouth Officers. 

" But the Carpenter expends two top-masts studding-sail-yards, 
blown away only, and says nothing of booms. The Captain's 
journal does 7\ot mention any accident whatever, the ship at an- 
chor in Yarmouth Roads, light breezes and clear, weighed at 
5 P. M. of the l6th, made sail, and tacked occasionally/' — 
Navy Board. 

" We observe the ship is on a wind, and tacking occasionally" 
— Portsmouth Officers. 

" The Carpenter expends two lower studding-sail-yards blown away 
with the sails, but says nothing of booms. He, however, returns 
four booms, (perhaps the heels) at Sheerness, 8th October. The 
Sheer ness Officers report, that the booms returned were two top- 
mast and two top-gallant studding-sail booms /'—Navy Board, 
E 



50 



Time when. 



1 800. 
Kov. 10 



Stores expended, as per Boatswain's 
Expence Book. 



By whose 
orders. 



In a gale, eut away the main and mizen- 
masts, lost overboard in clearing the 
wreck : 

Hammocks, . „ 100 in number 
Tar, .... 4 barrels 

Scrapers ... 72 in number 



By order 

of the 

Captain 



1801. 
Jan. 16 
17 



Lost by the fore-top-mast and mam 
topgallant-mast being carried away: 
Fore- top-sail, one in number. 

gallant-sail, one. 

gallant-royal, one„ 



Ditto 



Main-top- gallant- sail, one 

: gallant-royal, one. 

Reeved new main and fore- top- vieh.faih. 
gallant clew-li; es, rope . 2 128 

Ftsre and main-top-gallant 

braces, ditto , . . . » 2 140 

Fore and main-top-gaiiant- 
royal stay, and b^ck-stay, do. 

Fore and main royal sheets . 

;Signal haulyards. .... 

Foretop-sail-clew-lines, ditto 

To reefing new fore -top-sail 
bunt-lines, ditto . . - 

Outer jib haul-yards, ditto . 

Fore and main- top-gallant- 
royal haul-yards, ditto 
lop-burton falls, ditto . . 

Lanyards for topmast rigging, do.3 

Cut and lost clearing the 
w^eck, rope, white, d.tto , 



n 


14 6 


i| 


1GS 


i 


300 


3 


76" 


oi 


56 


2^ 


6'0 


2A 


108 


2 


50 


3 


50 


4 


36< 



►Ditto 



51 

REMARKS. 



" We suppose the hundred hammocks said to be lost had 
the people's bedding in them, and should have been mentioned 
in the log ; and we think it very strange, that four barrels of 
tar and 72 scrapers should be thrown overboard to clear 
the wreck, as well as the three compasses" — Portsmouth 
Officers. 

" The Carpenter does not expend gangway or quarter-deck 
stanchions for hammocks, but throws overboard 4 barrels of pitch ; 
he also loses 4 davits from the quarters with the boats, but the 
boatswain does not expend any boat. The Captain's journal 
states two cutters to have been lost off' the quarters. By the Captain's? 
as well as Lieut. Davis's journals, it appears, that the top-gallant 
masts WERE <50T down on the booms, A. M. of the 9th, 
the defects delivered at Sheerness, state the fore, main and mizen- 
top-gallant-masts, top-gallant and royal yards, as having 
been lost with the other wreck." — Navy Board. 

" On the 18th, at 7 h. 45 m. the log carries away the fore-top- 
mast, fore and main-top-gallant-masts, and loses all the 
sails, the Boatswain expends, on the l6th, except the main- 
top-gallant sail ; the log does not mention any rigging being 
lost or cut in clearing the wreck. We observe the Boat- 
swain makes a distinction in the expending of rope, by 
reeving, eight hundred and ninety-eight fathoms, by order of 
the Captain ; 324 fathoms are expended by not any person's 
order, and the remainder, with the blocks, cut and lost in 
clearing the wreck. We beg leave to remark, that we con- 
sider it very fortunate sundry articles being saved, when com- 
pared with those said to be lost." — Portsmouth Officers. 

" The Carpenter expends the fore-top-mast, fyc. on the 18M, on 

which day it is also mentioned in the Captain's journal" — Navy 
Board. 



E 2 



62 



Time when. 


Store* expended, as per Boatswain's 
Expence Book. 


By whose 
Orders. 


1801. 
Jan. l6 

n 


Ditto signal blocks, with brass shivers, 

4-inch, 8 in number. 
Ditto fore-top-sail braces, of 3-inch, 

82 fathoms. 
Used throat and end seizings top-mast, 

rigging, 1-inch, 100 fathoms. 
Lost of sorts, blocks, double, 12 in 

number. 
Ditto, single, 40 


By order 

of the 
Captaiti 


•March 29 


Lost, taking the Sensible in tow: 

Hawser, . 9 inches, 50 fathoms 


Ditto 


May 4 


Cut and converted into nippers and 
swabs : 

Hawser, . 9 iuches, 30 fathoms 


Ditto 


July 25 


Blown away in a squall, by carrying 
away the boom : 
Top-mast studding- 
sail, .... one in number 
Lower ditto . . one 


Ditto 



53 



REMARKS. 



"By log, the Sensible was taken in tow at 9 A.M. and cast off 
at 2. 30. A.M. ; during 17| hours in tow it was fine wea- 
ther, and the ship never exceeded three miles per hour. Not 
any mention made of the loss of the tow-rope in the log, and 
we suppose this to be part of the lower shroud hawser, being al- 
lowed not any other hawser of that size." — Portsmouth Officers* 

" The Captain's Journal also states the Sensible to have been taken 
in tow at 9 A.M. of the 29th, and cast oft at 2 30. A.M. of the 
30th. Weather, moderate breezes." — Navy Board. 

" This must be part of the lower shroud hawser." — Ports- 
mouth Officers. 

" Of which the other part is stated to have been lost on 29th 
March." — Navy Board. 

" On the same morning at 2 A. M. the wind shifted from 
West to S. E. at 3 to South, the course steered E. N. E. 
dozen studding-sails, set jib, spanker, and main sail at \ past 
5; altered the course to E. N.E. and then East, set the 
fore-top-mast-studdtng-sail; at 7 took in the top-gallant-sails, 
and fore-top-mast-studding-sail ; 8, strong gales; 
at 1 1 in 3d reef top-sails ; at noon strong gales ; at 1 P. M. 
course E. b. S. wind S. S. W. close reefed the top-sails ; and 
at 3 struck top-gallant-masts. The Log is as particular 
this day as any we have examined, in taking in sail, shifting 
of winds, and altering of the course as far as 3 P. M. and then 
is inserted, and which evidently has been written at some otlier 
period, and by different ink, viz. carried away fore lower 
(then the log is erased T. MV) steering-sails, with their 
yards, &c. Lieutenant Davis's Journal does not notice any 
thing of this transaction, but of the day's log he is particular 
as above. If these sails were made, the canvas expended is 
a surplus of 241 yard? more than allowed, a proportion for 



54 



Time when. 


Stores expended, as per Boatswain's 
Expence Book. 


By whose 
orders. 


1801. 


- 


By order 

of the 
Captain 


Aug. 24 


Lost by accident, by a coir cable parting': 
Coir cable, 20 inches, 8 fathoms 
Anchor of 28 cwt. one in number 
Nun buoy, . . one 
Buoy rope, 6J 24 fathoms 


Ditto 


Sept. 22 


Lost, in getting the ship to her moor- 
ings : 

Kedge anchor, . one in number 

Hawser, 7 inches, one 
Cut per Captain's order for buoy rope: 

Hawser, 6 inches, one 


Ditto 






, 



65 



REMARKS. 



the two studding-sails, and rope of 2j-inch, 5 fathoms 
mere." — Portsmouth Officers. 

" The Captains Journal states the weather to be strong gales, and 
thudy ; at 3 P. M. struck top-gallant-masts ; ditto, carried away 
a fore lower and top-mast-steering-sails, with their yards, fyc. ; 
at 10 handed the fore and mi zen-t op-sai ls, at 3 A. M. down jib 
and brailed up the spanker, being split" — Navy Board, 

M 25th August, by Log, (and Captain's Journal — Navy 
Board") 7 A. M. parted the larboard mooring; at 4 P.M. 
'moored the ship with the best and small bower. 

" 27th August, by log, received an European cable of 20 
inches ; and 2 anchors of 2S cwt. f^ach, sait the same anchors 
to the Nor ge hulk to be puddened. We beg to observe, that 
the Boatswain expends an anchor of 28 cwt. three days be- 
fore it is received, by the Log, and sent to the Hulk topuddex; 
neither can we discover when these anchors of 28 cwt. (said 
to be received on the 27 th), are made use of. 2Sth, per Log, 
received an European cable of 20 inches, and an anchor, 
weighing ( ). September 3d, Log, received a cable, 
11 inches, 9° fathoms, for 2 messengers, and an European 
cable of 20 inches, and 2 anchors of 35 cwt. each." — Ports- 
mouth Officers. 

** Not any mention made in ihe Log of using the kedge 
anchor, and 7-inch hawser. — Portsmouth Officers. 

"Nor in the Captain's Journal ; on ihe contrary, it appears, that 
the ship was moored with 5 anchors ; o?i the IQtk and 20th, wea- 
ther he Unable to calms; on the 2?/ fresh breezes, employed getting 
up a)id rigging the main-top-ma^^ — Navy Board. 



56 



APPENDIX. 



Particulars of Repairs done to H. M. Ship Romney, 
Capt. Sir Home Popham^ K. E. in the River 

Hoogblj, per BilL 

EXTERIOR. 

Great part of the wales and top fides fhifted, be- 
ing much decayed, and part of the bulwark. Two 
ftrakes of copper ftripped off below the wales, to 
caulk, as the fhip had been fo leaky; and alfo the 
Wooden ends forward and aft down to light water 
mark, and the iron work fhifted, being nail fick; 
frefh caulked, and coppered again a ftreak higher, 
to prevent the worms getting hold of the plank. 
The head, round houfe,and channel repaired ; two 
new quarter galleries, the old ones being quite 
rotten, except the lower (tools. 

INTERIOR. 

Great part of the quarter, main, and gun-decks 
fhifted, and alfo feveral parts of the water ways on 
the main and gun-decks; altering the fky-light on 
the quarter deck ; new bulwark entirely on the 
forecaftle, the old quite ufelefs ; part of the bul- 
wark on the quarter-deck fhifted. 

Two 



57 

Two new bitts on the quarter deck, and mizen- 
lop-fail fheet bitts. 

Two new fife rails on the forecaftle ; the coam- 
ings of hatches raifed fix inches higher fore and 
aft on the gun deck, and feveral new gratings 
made. 

The fhot-lockers on both decks made new, and 
the carronade chocks on the main and quarter- 
decks unbolted, as the lower gun-deck was con- 
tinually wet from their leaking, and fearnought 
and lead put underneath them, and bolted again. 

The moots of the deck-fcuppers made new fore 
and aft, and feveral new large fcuppers fitted on 
both fides. 

The ports repaired, and feveral new fcuttles 
made in them; bulk-head of the great cabin made 
new; fafhes for the great cabin and gun-room. 

Major part of the half-ports repaired, and fome 
new ones made ; new hawfe bucklers fitted in the 
manger, and rollers for the meflenger ; new pump 
and ciftern; the pump-well and mot-lockers re- 
paired; new cants round the riders on the main 
and gun decks, and many of the bolts fhifted. 

The fheep pen, hen-coops, arm-chefts, and co« 
lour-cheft repaired. New frames for the cabins in 
the gun room, and canvas fcreens ; a new fick bay 3 
with cradles. 

New fteps on the fide ; repairing table and hog- 
ilyes for the cabin and ward-room. 

New cheeks to the fore-malt; main truffel trees; 
new cheeks and rollers for the bowfprit; new 
main, fore, and bowfprit caps, and a new main- 
top; the fore-yard fifhed. 

The fhip caulked all over and painted twice, 
and white wafhed below, and feveral other fmall 
jobs. 

F Thefe 



58 

Thefe are to certify to the Hon. the Princi- 
pal Officers and Commiffioners of H. M.'s Navy, 
that the foregoing particulars of repairs and work 
done to H. M.'s fhip Romney, while refitting in 
the river Hooghly, together with the veflels and 
cooly hire, materials, &c. for performing the fame, 
were actually furnifhed as herein fpecified. 

(Signed) " Home Popham, Captain. 

€ D. E. Bartholomew, Acting Maften 
* John White, Carpenter." 

Amount for materials, &c. 46,Q59 11 9 
Add 20percent. commission 9^9^- 14 1 



56,351 9 10 
Deduct for old copper,") ^ „ _ 

iron, and lead . j y 

55,435 1 I 

European carpenters, 

caulkers, sail-makers, 

and painters, employ- I g65 6 4 

ed from the Com- ' 

pany's ships and the 

Romney .... 
Boat hire, &c. .... 14,611 12 



Rupees 71,020 3 5 or £.9,469 7 3 



Particulars of Repairs done to H. M. Ship Sen- 
sible, per foregoing Bill. 

exterior. 

A new falfe keel, her bottom frefh nailed 
throughout; caulked, fheathed, and coppered, with 
gulgul between the bottom and iheathing, and 
Hkewife between the fheathing and copper, and 
ihree pair of additional pintles and gudgeons. 

Part 



59 

Part of the wales fhifted, and alfo the entire 
ftrake in which the (cuttles were, and new (cutties 
cut. Part of the top fide fhifted; a new fet of 
fore, main, and mizen channels and chain-plates. 
. A new cut-water, billet-head, rails, and bum- 
kin ; netting and waift flantions all repaired ; new 
hammock boards for ditto. 

A new (tern and counter, with new galleries 
and half-ports. 

INTERIOR. 

The bolts of the riders in the hold drifted ; new 
pillars in the hold and lower-deck. 

The whole of the lower-deck fhifted with teak 
and fir, and a number of new carlines and ledges 
laid ; a fet of iron ftandards fitted fore and aft on 
this deck. 

A fet of new after cable-bitts, and a crofs-bitt 
pin for the cable bitts ; new main-top-fail meet- 
bitts, and jeer bitts; new fcuppers fore and aft, a 
new bread hook under the hawfe holes, two round- 
houfes under the forecaflle, and the galley tinned. 

Several of the quarter-deck and forecaflle beams 
fhifted ; new coamings and hatches fore and aft 
on both decks, as alfo on the quarter-deck. A 
new iky-light. 

Great part of the quarter deck and forecaflle 
fhifted. The poop and main- decks taken away; 
new bulwark on the quarter-deck and forecaflle ; 
new taffrail davits of the flern and gun-wales fore 
and aft. 

New ring and eye-bolts for the ports on the 
gun, quarter-deck, and forecaflle ; alfo new stop- 
per bolts. New fhot-lockers ; feveral iron knees 
to the quarter-deck beams; new forked beams 
abreast the main-mast on the gun-deck and lower- 
deck. 

One 



60 

One new main crofs-tree, and top-mast crofs- 
trees; the mairi-maft opened and rebuilt, and one 
of the fide-trees fhifted, fifhed, and checked; one 
new lower cap, and three top-malt ditto. 

A new bowfprit, and mafts and yards complete, 
excepting the lower mails. 

New cabin bulk heads, port and ftern fafties, 
two new binnacles, and a new ciftern. 

Hatches, gratings, ftore rooms, . cabins, hen- 
coops, arm-chefts, (hip's coppers and tops re- 
paired. 

And many other neceffary external and internal 
repairs. 

" We do hereby certify, that the repairs, as 
mentioned in this bill, were executed under our 
infpeclion, mentioned in the following particulars 
of repairs : — 

" Rt. Sause, Captain. 
" Jas. O'Conner, Matter. 
" Wm. Russell, Carpenter." 

Amount of bill for repairs 122,915 13 6 

Add 20 per cent, commission .... 24,5S3 2 ' 6" 

147,499 o o 
Dock hire . . 1550") , 

Store and boat hire 120 j " * ' ' ' 1 '° 7 ° ° ° 

149,169 
Deduct for old copper, lead, iron, &c. &c. 7,735 11 

141,433 5 

European artificers 811 13 O 

Hire of vessels 18,851 8 

Repair of boats . 2,237 4 H 

Bill for masts and yards, and ship's furniture 18^520 

Rupees 181,853 14 11 
Repairs of the ship, &c. £.23,948 17 8 
Ditto of the boats . . . 298 6 1 

FINIS. 

yrtftted by I. aj»d I. Walter, Printing-houfeyard, Blaekfriars* 



w 



A FEW 

BRIEF REMARKS 

ON A 

PAMPHLET, 

PUBLISHED BY SOME INDIVIDUALS, SUPPOSED TO BE CONNECTED 
WITH THE LATE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY, 

ENTITLED, 

" Observations on the Concise Statement of Facts? 
privately circulated by Sir Home Popham" $c. 

IN WHICH THE CALUMNIES OF THOSE WRITERS ARE EXAMINED 
AND EXPOSED; 

Together with, 

Strictures on the Reports of the Navy and Victualling Boards; on some 
proceedings of the late Admiralty, not generally promulgated ; Hints on 
the Effects of late the Experiments against the Enemy's Flotilla, Sec. &c= 



By JESCHINES. 



**• His innocence 

Shall stand triumphant, and your malice serve 

But for a trumpet, to proclaim his merit !" MASSINGER. 

" Those things which now seem frivolous and slight, 
Will be of serious consequence to you, 
When they have made you once ridiculous." ROSCOMMON. 



LONDON : 

Printed by J. Swan, 76, Pleet Street, 

LND SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN PICCADILLY, PALL-MALL, 

AND ELSEWHERE, IT MAY LIKEWISE BE HAD BY ORDER, 

OF ANY OF THE DEALERS IN NEWSPAPERS. 

1805. 

. Price Twa Shillings. 



A $\AM 



3 I 



30 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The contents of the following pages were put together almost 
immediately after I had perused the Pamphlet, entitled ft Ob- 
servations." It is, I believe, usual with writers of temporary 
effusions to make some apology for the want of logical arrange- 
ment, or other imperfections in their literary efforts; but* 
as I had neither the inducement of fame or emolument, ia 
pending this tract before the public, I shall not trouble my 
readers with any excuse for my want of ability. As, however, 
some of the passages will appear faulty and unconnected, it is 
necessary to inform them to what circumstances such faults 
owe their origin. — I am not, I must confess, so well acquainted 
with modern illustrations of the Law of Libels, as to know the 
precise point at which a political writer may carry his opinions, 
without fear of the pillory or imprisonment ; but, thanks to the 
abilities of Mr. Erskine, and his late application of them, all 
Printers and Publishers have now become their own Counsellors; 
and the former will tell you at once, that if a pamphlet tc con- 
tains any thing strong, they must decline printing it, unless they 
know who and what the author is !"— A friend, however, pro- 
cured for me a Printer who undertook to print it upon the ex- 
press condition of leaving out every thing that might be ob- 
noxious to any person concerned in the subject of controversy; 
and I was suffered to remain in the private and unknown 
station in which providence has placed me; and he, very 
laudably, induced my friend, who superintended the publi- 
cation, to erase every passage which, in my ardour for 
justice, I had penned with too great a degree of spirit to be 
consistent with the Liberty of the Press ! All personalities have, 
therefore, been omitted, all names have been filled up with 
dashes, and my tract appears with all that inanity and tame- 
ness, so safe for the persons of industrious, and so agreeable to 
the feelings of honourable men. The few strong paragraphs 
which the MS. may have contained, have been omitted entirely; 
and many passages which expressed my ideas with too great 
a degree of freedom, have been filled up by asterisks. — If, there- 
fore, my pamphlet is not what it might have been, or ought to 
be, to those laws, to which I have ever given my feeble sup- 
port, must the circumstance be attributed; and, I thank Heaven, 
they are now so well understood, and so ju^ly administered, that 
it is impossible for a man to be betrayed by the ardour of pa- 
triotism into a situation dangerous to his personal security. 

Feb. 4, 1805, iESCHINES, 



A FEW 



BRIEF REMARKS^ 

SfC. 



Of all the subjects of political contention which 
have arisen since the time of the celebrated 
Junius, perhaps there has never been one which 
has excited more general interest, or has been more 
remarkable, either for the variety, the brilliancy, 
or the mediocrity of the talents of those writers 
who have engaged in it, than that which was in- 
debted for its origin to the supercilious conduct 
and arbitrary proceedings of the late Board of 
Admiralty. The vindictive spirit which that 
Board has likewise displayed in its attempts to 
check the inquiries which were made relative to 
its administration, and to attack, in every possible 
way, those individuals, who, from motives of pa- 
triotism, had thought proper to lay their opinions 
on this subject before the public, has likewise 
been so apparent, as not only to excite surprise 
and indignation, but to affix an irrevocable stigma 
upon every person who has had the effrontery to 
defend the errors and vices of that amalgamation 
of weakness, flippancy, and pride, which at one 
period threatened to involve us in general ruin. 



But it is not now a question, what benefits 
have been derived by the nation from the econo- 
mical system adopted by the noble Earl who 
lately presided at the head of our Naval De- 
partment, aided by the vindictive insinuations of 
his upstart coadjutors; what were the exertions 
of that redoubtable phalanx, during the first year 
of the present war, to meet the threats of the 
enemy; or what comparison our naval force in 
1803 bore to that which was produced in an 
equal time, after the breaking out of the former 
hostilities, by the vigorous and extraordinary ef- 
forts of the administration of that period. These 
questions have not only for some time been de- 
cided, as well in Parliament as by the more mi- 
nute statements of different patriotic writers ; but 
the country feels itself relieved from the impedi- 
ments of those inert, conceited, and 

individuals, who lately clogged its operations, and, 
grateful for the change, looks forward with con- 
fidence to the moments when, from the probable 
results of the projects formed by its present wise 
and liberal directors, its ancient character will be 
retrieved. 

It is a trait, however, in the private dispo- 
sition of Englishmen, that though they immedi- 
ately forgive injuries, they cannot easily forget 
them ; and thus we may account for the late ap- 
pearance of several publications, some of which 
are intended as an exposure of facts which confer 
no credit upon those with whom they originated; 
others, as a justification of the public and private 
proceedings of individuals, and some as an anti- 
dote to the venomous saliva ejected by those an- 
fractuous beings, who, since their expulsion from 
the focus in which they were protected, have in- 
cessantly laboured to wound the feelings of such 



as were enabled to resist their malignant efforts 
while in prosperity, and whose constant exertions, 
for the advantage of their country, cannot fail to 
raise them to the highest point of public consi- 
deration ; while their calumniators are sunk to 
the lowest depths of disgrace and infamy. But, 
however plausible such attacks may, at first sight, 
appear, they are utterly incapable of imposing 
upon the most superficial observer. 

The pamphlet, which was generally consi- 
dered as the expiring effort of the late Admiralty 
coalition, entitled, an " Answer to Mr. Pitt's At- 
tack," was properly " dissected," and ably re- 
plied to, by the writer of " Audi Alteram Par- 
tem ;" but that illiberal and unfortunate party, 
unwilling, perhaps, to pass their tedious hours, 
forgotten and despised, have again/ had recourse 
to the press, for the purpose of vilifying a highly re- 
spectable officer; a man whose life and fortune 
have been indisputably, and importantly, devoted 
to the promotion of his country's interests, and 
whose reward, for his meritorious services, ap- 
pears to have been a series of the most outrage- 
ous insults that ever disgraced a branch of admi- 
nistration, in the most corrupt sera of any nation 
upon earth — I allude to the whole of their con- 
duct towards Sir Home Popham. 

Not content with their contemptuous treat- 
ment of this gentleman while they were in office*, 

* The private friends of different members of the late 
Board of Admiralty, who did not approve of their austerity, while 
in office, and, we are convinced, that it could be approved of 
by none but their immediate creatures, may probably justify 
them, upon the opinion of Machiavel, who asserts, that "hatred 
maybe obtained in two ways; by good works, and by bad; and 
that a man, who is willing to retain his authority, is often com- 
pelled to be bad, by the conduct of the people about him j for, 
it the chief party, which you think most useful^ and of most 



a publication has just appeared from some of the 
minions of the late Admiralty, entitled, "Observa- 
tions on a Pamphlet which has been privately 
circulated; said to be a Concise Statement of 
Facts," 8$c. the ludicrous composition of which 
and the malicious intent of the writers, are so 
evident, that any systematic refutation, from the 
object of the attack, though, I am convinced 
that nothing could be more easily effected, is pro- 
bably considered as needless, or perhaps, degra- 
ding. A man, however, who has performed im- 
portant public services, never fails to gain the de- 
sirable esteem of many patriotic individuals, who 
know him only by the public report of those ser- 
vices ; and such persons take so great an interest 
in his character, that any attempt which is made 
against it by the hand of malevolence, becomes in 
some degree a general concern, and excites the in- 
dignation of ail who are sufficiently independent 
in their principles, to view the effusions of party- 
writers with calmness and impartiality. I am 
happy to class myself amongst those unprejudiced 
persons to whom I allude; and, without pos- 
sessing the slightest knowledge of Sir Home Pop- 
ham*, I will endeavour, in the first instance, to 

consequence to you, for the preservation of your dignity, be cor- 
rupt, you must follow their humour, and indulge them; and, in 
that case, honesty and virtue are pernicious." This is a kind of 
doctrine which, it must be admitted, can be wonderfully im- 
proved upon, where a head man is inclined to be tyrannical, in 
order to conform to the wishes of his creatures. 

* That the independency of my motives and conduct may 
be properly understood, I declare, in the most positive and un- 
equivocal manner, on the honour of a gentleman, that I know 
nothing of that officer, except what I have learnt by public re- 
port and actual observation j that, to my knowledge, I never 
saw him in my life, nor ever conversed with any person, in any 
way related to him, about his public services. My intentions 
are, therefore, " independent as the wind/' and, I have taken an 



vindicate him from this foul attack ; flattering my- 
self, that my trivial remarks will so far operate 
upon the mind of every candid reader, as to in- 
duce him to rescind any prejudice he may have im- 
bibed against that respectable officer, from the per- 
usal of the miserable publication to which I have 
alluded : I shall afterwards call the attention of 
the public to a few striking facts, with which 
they have not hitherto been made acquainted, and 
which relate to the effects of those novel experi- 
ments*, that seem to have excited so much chagrin 
and inveteracy amongst those who formed the late 
naval administration. 

I am aware of the small degree of credit 
which is usually attached to the asseverations of 
anonymous writers; yet I have no doubt that the 
majority of readers, into whose hands these pages 
may fall, will not question my veracity, with re- 
spect to the assertion, that I am totally unac- 
quainted with Sir Home Popham. It is, however, 
necessary to premise, that, in the course of my ex- 
ertions to acquire extensive political information, 



interest in his cause, merely from my conviction, that in the at- 
tacks which have been made against him, no kind of persecution 
has been left untried, which could tend to lower him in the es- 
timation of the public ; for jealousy, which is peculiar to little 
minds, might well be supposed to operate upon men of such 
extraordinary abilities, as the writers of the pamphlet I am about 
to examine 5 neither of whom, I am well informed, can lay more 
claim to seamanship than appertains to a man before the mast. 
Horace says : 

" Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines , 
Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum;" 

and the medium of propriety has been so completely outstripped 
by them, in their last attempt, that their scurrility is alike desti- 
tute of consistency or limitation. 

* The Catamarans. 



I was favoured with, a copy of an interesting 
publication entitled, " A Concise Statement of 
Facts" which was printed by the direction of Sir 
Home, in the autumn of 1803, for the sole pur- 
pose of distribution amongst his private connec- 
tions, and the object of which was to show the ex- 
ertions he had made, and the perils he had en- 
countered, to promote the glory and prosperity 
of his country. I may also add, that I have been 
fortunate enough to obtain, for perusal, a copy of 
every other tract which has appeared on the 
subject of the existing naval controversy; — a cir- 
cumstance of no small consequence to any person 
who wished to acquire a correct idea of the de- 
gree to which the system of the creatures of the 
late Board of Admiralty was extended. 

Had the public at large possessed equal 
means of information, the "Observations" lately 
mentioned would require no further refutation; 
because, the mutilated extracts from the " Con- 
cise Statement of Facts," which form the bulk of 
the pamphlet intitled " Observations," would at 
once show the motives of the writer to have been 
those of private resentment, at tbe exposure 
of the conduct of his connatural partizans. 
But as the " Concise Statement," which is an ex- 
tensive work, has never been before the public, 
I shall, perhaps, render an acceptable service, 
by making known, in the course of these Remarks, 
the nature of its' contents, and thus enable my 
readers to perceive to what paltry artifices this 
anonymous writer has been reduced. 

It is by no means my wish that these pages 
should be considered as a complete answer to 
the candid pamphlet already mentioned; yet 
before I proceed to make a few general remarks 
upon the services of Sir Home Popham, I shall 



briefly notice the manner in which the literary 
champion of the late Board has taken up the sub- 
ject of their defence against the charges of this 
injured officer, as contained in his " Concise 
Statement," by beginning with those notable 
"Observations," so abundant in obtrectative em- 
bellishments for the purpose of distorting facts, 
and giving to truth itself the semblance of false- 
hood. 

" He who writes upon matters of politics," 
says a celebrated author who figured at the be- 
ginning of the last century, " should use his ut- 
most endeavours to divest himself of all kind of 
passion, not only because it obscures his judg- 
ment, and renders the faculties of the mind less 
free in their operation; but by reason, that it leads 
him to mingle with the interests of the public, his 
own inclinations, which often grow so prevalent 
as to make him forget the duty he owes to that 
commonwealth, of which he is a member, and 
guided by hatred, he at last comes to forsake 
truth." 

The conclusion of this passage is strikingly 
verified by the contents of a few modern pam- 
phlets which owe their origin to private malignity 
and disappointed ambition, but by none more 
than those of the " Observations" to which I have 
alluded. 

Isocrates, in one of his orations, observes, 
that it is more easy to maintain a wrong cause 
and to support paradoxical opinions, to the sa- 
tisfaction of a common auditory, than to esta- 
blish an unknown truth by solid and conclusive 
arguments; on the ground, that, when men find 
that something can be said in favour of what, pri- 
ma-faci<£, they thought utterly indefensible, they 
grow doubtful of their own reason, and are se- 



duced by the ingenuity which can establish an hy- 
pothesis, where every thing seemed wanting for 
its formation. — There is a sort of gloss upon in- 
genious falsehoods that dazzles the imagination, 
but which neither belongs to, nor becomes the 
dignity of truth. I cannot, I admit, accuse the 
pamphlet under my review with ingenuity of con- 
struction; yet there is throughout it an affron- 
tery of falsehood, which may impose upon such 
as are unacquainted with the truth, and which, 
advantaged by the unfortunate propensity of 
mankind to indulge in calumny, may wound a 
character which does honour to our country, if 
not stripped of its assumed colouring, and exposed 
in its native baseness. 

It appears that Sir Home Popham had 
scarcely left the Channel on his important mission 
to the Indian Seas, when that system of persecu- 
tion, which has since been so vindictively pur- 
sued against him, first betrayed itself, and the 
minions of the cabal were employed "ambiguas 
in mdgam spargere voces." An injury unan- 
swered in ordinary minds grows weary of itself, 
and dies away in voluntary remorse ; but in bad 
dispositions it has a different effect. The silent 
digestion of one wrong provokes a second; they 
hate because they have injured, and injure be- 
cause they hate, while falsehood, the ready mini- 
ster of injustice, creates at once the pretext and 
the weapons of aggression. 

Falsehood, we are told, was the progeny of 
Folly, impregnated by the Wind: — it matters not 
whether the feverish Sirocco, the noisome Euro- 
clydon, or the hollow pestilential blast of St. Vin- 
cent was the father — the puny blustering offspring 
before me bears all the features of its mother, 
deformed as is the malice and black as is the 
heart which has ushered it into notice! 



This pamphlet commences by saying that 
the " Concise Statement of Facts," privately cir- 
culated by Sir Home Popham in August 1803, 
did not fall into the hands of any member of the 
late Board of Admiralty until the 19th of November, 
or that it would have been sooner answered. This 
assertion I know to be untrue: — they possessed 
it within a few days after its publication; but, 
conscious of the weakness of any answer they 
could offer to it, they waited, after their dismis- 
sion, in the hope that some casualty might arise 
to give weight to the currency of their charges; 
and this occasion they idly supposed to be af- 
forded by what they conceived to be a partial fail- 
ure of the late experiment on the enemy's coast. 
They thought, with Sterne, that a shaft flying with 
the wind might inflict a wound, while, by its own 
natural force it would not reach the object 
aimed at; and they accordingly fulminated their 
long- projected accusation; but borne down by 
its own intrinsic baseness, it falls short of its 
intent* while its obvious malice, like the rust of 
Achilles's spear, serves as an antidote to the 
wound it inflicts. 

The first charge is, that Sir Home Popham 
equipped the ships under his command at Cal- 
cutta instead of Bombay, where it is stated, he 
should have gone, and the author observes, that 
" to those who are acquainted with the geography 
of the East Indies, the motive of his going to 
Calcutta will not be very apparent, more espe- 
cially when they are informed that Bombay is the 
depot of stores for the King's ships, &c. whilst at 
Calcutta every thing is in the hands of the private 
merchants;" and he adds, " it is to be seen whether 
these motives are not explained by facts," thus in- 
sinuating, that this gallant officer was influenced 

c 



10 

by considerations of personal advantage in a con- 
tract with the merchants of Calcutta, to prefer 
that mode of repair to the more regular one at 
Bombay. The disgrace and infamy which would 
justly involve Sir Home, had he been guilty of 
such conduct, attach themselves, in a peculiar 
degree, to those who preferred such a charge 
against him, knowing it to be false. They were 
fully informed that Admiral Rainier had ap- 
pointed Mr. Louis, a merchant of high respecta- 
bility at Calcutta, to act there as Deputy Naval 
Commissioner, in whom all sales and purchases 
were necessarily vested; and they farther knew 
(a copy of the Admiral's letter having been sent 
to the Admiralty Board,) that Admiral Rainier 
wrote from Trincomalee on the 9th of August, 
1801 to Sir Home Popham as follows: 

" Mr, Mathew Louis, of Calcutta, who is 
Deputy at that place for the Naval Officer at 
Madras, has lately informed me that there is a great 
glut of Naval Stores there, which have been of- 
fered to him at prime cost and freight. I should 
therefore recommend your directing such articles 
to be purchased there, as his Majesty's ships un- 
der your orders may require, as otherwise our 
magazines at Madras and Bombay may be too 
much reduced, and oblige the naval officers to 
purchase stores, when they will, in all probability, 
have become very dear, particularly if the war 
with the Northern Powers should continue." 

It was, therefore, in obedience to the recom- 
mendation of his superior officer, but particularly 
because the depdt at Bombay could not furnish the 
requisite stores, that Sir Home Popham caused the 
ships under his orders to proceed to the Ganges 
to repair. 

The next paragraph is a laboured panegyric 



11 

on the late First Lord of the Admiralty ; but it per- 
haps required a more creative fancy than this 
puerile writer possesses, to say much in his 
Lordship's commendation; for, happily for the 
service, this man, lately canonized by his own 
pride, and made a deity of by his parasites, has, 
like an empty vapour, disappeared from our po- 
litical horizon, and, I trust, will never again rise to 
darken it. The author accuses Sir Home Popham 
of calumniating Lord St. Vincent in order to 
prepare the public mind for the open attack that 
was meditated against him. — Little did he know 
the state of the public opinion, who could suppose 
much pains necessary for such a purpose. — The 
state of the navy, and the general conduct of 
those who presided over it, appealed irresistibly 
to the feelings of every man, and showed the im- 
potence of censure, by so far exceeding its powers. 
Calumniate Lord St. Vincent! — I know the man, 



*••• > 

* I have heard that a certain character lately en- 
deavoured to intimidate patriotic writers by an intimation, 
that, if their punishment rested with him t the pillory, at least, 
should be their sentence ! If such reports of the prejudicative 
sentiments of those who administer our laws be well founded, I 
can no longer fancy myself in the happy regions of Britain, 
where my father and grandfather have told me 1 had nothing to 
fear on the score of justice ! I must rather suppose myself to be 
at Athens, in its most corrupt and venal ages, and that I am 
liable to suffer the persecution sustained by iEschylus ; but this 
idea will not diminish my patriotic ardour. — I will, " unknowing 
and unknown," assert the rights of the defenders of that country 
which gave me birth, and of which my greatest pride is, that I 
am a member: — but I would advise those who are invested 
with temporary and fleeting authority, to reflect on the fate 
of the partial judge mentioned by Herodotus and Justinian, 
who wasjlead alive, by order of Cambyses, and his skin nailed 
on the bench, as a memento for those who should succeed him ! 



n 

or, through the polluted organs of mercenary 
babblers, (a fitting medium), proclaim his virtues 

and his services, but •— : " vitas posfscenia 

celant ;" and I may exclaim with Persius — " ad 
populum phaleras, ego te intus, et in cutenovi'' 

The writer next proceeds, to disclaim, on the 
part of the late Sea-Lords, the jealousy imputed 
to them: in this, however, there is more zeal than 
discretion, for he deprives them of the only apo- 
logy that can be urged for their conduct, and re- 
duces them to the condition of Steele's Lying 
Lovers :— 



Of you I am not jealous, 



'Tis my oivn indesert that gives me fears." 

If by the term Sea-Lords the author mean 
those Sea- Bears that lately had their paws upon 
the naval administration, I can readily concede 
to him that they are destitute of that spirit of 
emulation which broke the slumbers of The- 
mistocles. — The trophies of a Meltiades might 
awaken their hatred without rousing them to a 
generous desire of rivalry; but, considering envy, 
with Fenelon, as a sorry confession of one's own 
worthlessness, which cannot hide from herself the 
criminal malignity that induces her to grieve at 
the attainments of others, I must require some 
better evidence for their acquittal than that which 
has been offered by their apologist. 

Johnson, in one of his Essays, strongly repro- 
bates those who exalt trifles by immoderate 
praise, or instigate needless emulation- by invi- 
dious incitements. I entirely concur in the sen- 
timent, and am certain that I shall not be consi- 
dered as violating it when I observe that Sir 



13 

Home Popham is one of the most scientific officers 
in the service ; that the zeal with which he has 
devoted his time to the instruction of the young 
officers of his ship, both in lunar and astral ob- 
servations, is an honourable excitement to emu- 
lation; and I think it would be fortunate for the 
country, if this line of study were more generally 
followed, for then it would become less liable to 
ridicule. 

The author next demands, " Was it not in- 
decent, was it not outrageous, whilst that investi- 
gation was going forward, to his knowledge, to 
press the First Lord of the Admiralty to grant 
him personal interviews for the purpose of dis- 
cussion?" I will hereafter show how T that in- 
vestigation was conducted, and I will ask the 
shameless vindicator of it, was it not the business 
of a Public Board, engaged in an enquiry on a 
public question, to resort to every medium of 
information? Was it consistent with honour or 
justice to proceed to judgment on an ex-parte 
statement? Was it candid to violate the usual 
forms of office, in order to exclude unwished-for 
evidence? Was it not "indecent" to refuse to 
hear the defence of a man who had been wan- 
tonly accused? Was it not "outrageous" to 
shut out the voice of truth, and sacrifice the feelings 
of innocence, to the momentary triumph of false- 
hood and malevolence? 

I have thus far followed the course of the 
pamphlet before me, and I shall now enter into 
an examination of the charges contained in the 
report of the Commissioners of the Navy Board. 

The warrant officers of the Romney have 
sworn, that there was no improper expenditure of 
stores:— their positive testimony is far superior 
to narrow prejudices — conclusions drawn from 



n 

false premises, and unsupported by the shadow 
of plausibility. 

It is stated, that there was an improper ex- 
expenditure of stores, because such expenditure 
exceeded the allowed proportions or estimated 
ratio under ordinary circumstances, without re- 
ference to the nature of the service, or of those 
emergencies which called for increased supplies; 
and a flimsy theory, reared on the calculations of the 
Clerks of the Navy Office is opposed to the evi- 
dence of experience and the positive testimony of 
every officer in the ship, Sir Home Popham in my 
mind is entitled to public thanks for having de- 
viated from that penury of arrangement, which 
if persisted in, must have been fatal to the ser- 
vice on which he was employed. To prove that 
repairs were necessary, we need only refer to the 
state of the Romney when she arrived at a foreign 
station, charged with the execution of an object 
of high importance. It is established, on oath, 
that she made much water in the British Channel, 
(though this event was merely casual, and might 
have happened to any other ship) ; that her bends 
were found very defective, oncaulking, attheCape; 
that she made from sir to eight feet water in an 
hour during her passage to Calcutta; and that 
her wales on one side were quite rotten, and near- 
ly so on the other. The appointment of such a 
vessel, to such service as that on which she was 
employed, necessarily created the expenditure 
complained of. That the repairs which she re- 
ceived were efficient, is proved by the condition 
of the vessel on her return from India. She was 
re-commissioned a few days after she had been 
paid off) and sent again to a foreign station — a 
circumstance seldom equalled in the annals of 
our navy. 

v 



15 

The Commissioners of the Navy Board, in 
their report on the expences of repairing the 
Romney and Sensible, at Calcutta, observe, that 
although at first view the charge appeared extra- 
vagant, yet, on referring to the accounts furnish- 
ed by the East India Company, they found that 
it is the usual charge made by the merchant 
builders in Calcutta, for similar repairs and sup- 
plies to the Company's, or private ships; and that 
it is approved by the Marine Board at Calcutta. 
Had Sir Home Popham been in any degree 
whatever implicated in any question which could 
arise as to the propriety of these charges, this con- 
fession, reluctantly wrung from the reporters, 
would, it is reasonable to suppose, have fully 
exonerated him; but, instead of that, an imprest 
was charged, by order of the Admiralty, not only 
against Mr. Louis, the naval officer at Calcutta, 
to the amount of the bills drawn by him, but 
likewise against Sir Home Popham, by whom, in 
defiance of official documents, then in the Ad- 
miralty office, he was falsely stated to have been 
appointed to act as naval officer, and authorised 
to draw the bills in question. The pay of the 
First Lieutenant and the Boatswain was likewise 
stopped; and the latter afterwards declared to 
Mr. Bartholomew, that he had been obliged to 
write a letter against Sir Home Popham, as the 
only means of obtaining his wages!!! How 
these iniquitous circumstances came to light will 
be explained in the sequel. 

Those who have read the "Concise State- 
ment," must have observed how completely Sir 
Homejustifies himself with respect to the extrava- 
gance of the accounts in question, by proving, de- 
monstrably, that the charges for the repairs of the 
Romney were not so great by one half as those 



/ 



of many ships which went to Calcutta, under 
eicumstances of a similar nature. It is likewise 
clearly proved, that Mr. Louis, alone, as the 
acting naval commissioner, was the only person 
who could be deemed responsible for these 
charges; and, as he was subjected to the most 
rigid examination by the Commissioners of Naval 
Inquiry, we cannot but be shocked at the impro- 
priety and indecency of that malicious perversion 
of facts, which was made for the sole purpose of 
criminating an innocent and meritorious officer. 

But the motives from which this malice ori- 
ginated are so completely exposed in a quarto 
publication, with which I have also been favour- 
ed, entitled a "Continuation of the Concise 
Statement of Facts " that I am utterly at a loss 
to comprehend why, instead of a private circula- 
tion amongst the friends of this injured officer, h 
has not been published to the world. Those who 
are honoured with his friendship and acquaint- 
ance surely could not want any printed defence 
of his conduct; but the narrow prejudices of the 
uninformed mass of the public might, by its 
perusal, receive such an antidote to any un- 
favourable opinion they may have formed of him 
from the contemptible insinuations in the scur- 
rilous party pamphlet, as would ever incline 
them to suspend their future judgment upon the 
ex-parte statements of such unprincipled and 
profligate calumniators. 

As the first thirteen quarto pages of Sir 
Home's statement have been literally quoted, by 
the modern pamphlet-maker, in order to fill up 
a space which his own weak intellects were inca- 
pable of supplying; I shall pass over them with 
the simple intimation that several justificatory 
notes, at the bottom of the quarto pages, have 



17 

been omitted, for what purpose it is easy to per- 
ceive ; particularly when it is known that all the 
letters of congratulation and thanks for the im- 
portant services he had rendered, which Sir Home 
received from the Marquis Wellesley, General 
Baird, and other distinguished characters in 
India, are totally suppressed in the " Observa- 
tions." 

It appears from the "Concise Statement* : ," 
that Sir Home inclosed, for the inspection of the 
Admiralty, his journals from Bombay to St. He- 
lena, and afterwards to England, with a convoy 
of Indiamen, with remarks on the number of 
latitudes taken bv the transit of the stars, during 
the night watches. These were taken by a pecu- 
liar instrument with which he obliged all his of- 
ficers to furnish themselves, and by the use of 
which they acquired a considerable insight into 
practical astronomy. — He offered to send his 
star-boards to the Admiralty, for facilitating this 
useful practice; but he received a letter from Sir 
E. Nepean, stating that their Lordships had com- 
manded him to say, " that the practice of ma- 
king astral observations was a common one, for 
which every midshipman ought to qualify himself 
before he appears at the navy board for exami- 
nation.'' — I shall make no remark on this asser- 
tion, the falacy of which must be evident to 
ail nautical men; and I fullv agree with Sir 
Home that such a fact obviously proves that 
spirit of personality which the Admiralty Board 
carried to such an extent. Sir Home unequivo- 
cally intimates that they refused an essential im- 
provement, because it came from him! — Besides, 
from a conviction of the falsehood of this remark, 

* Page 13, 
D 



IS 

they not only compromised the dignity of their 
official situation, but subjected themselves to the 
contempt of all naval men, by insinuating that Sir 
Home wished to make a merit of introducing a 
branch of study on board his ship, with which the 
lowest officer in his Majesty's navy ought to be 
completely acquainted. 

But, considering this spirit of personality 
upon a more general ground, can there, I ask, be 
any doubt that Sir Home was not the only officer 
against whom it was indulged ? — I have no hesi- 
tation in declaring my opinion to be in the nega- 
tive, It is, I fear, but too true, that the late 
Board carried their personality and enmity against 
naval officers to a shameful extent; and, as it is 
clear, that in most cases this enmity originated 
with the Board themselves, from that contempti- 
ble spirit of hatred, by which they appear to have 
been governed in most of their proceedings, it is 
Well worthy of consideration, what has been the 
effect of such conduct upon the service ? My own 
opinion, I must declare, I think it would be dan- 
gerous to state. I will, however, say, that it is 
with me a question, whether many of our brave 
and celebrated officers have not, in consequence 
of such treatment, retired from the service in 
disgust, and whether by such a retirement, at 
this important crisis, the country has not, in all 
probability, sustained a very material injury ? I 
am aware, that no direct logical proof can be ad- 
duced of the nature or the extent of this injury; 
but the subject, nevertheless, gives rise to many 
and serious reflexions on the consequences of the 
abuse of power. 

Another direct proof of the haughty and su- 
percilious conduct of the late Board towards naval 
officers, is contained in a letter from Sir Home 



19 

Popham to Earl St. Vincent, dated June 8, 1 S03* ? 
in which he remonstrates with his lordship, on 
his refusal to see him, after repeated solicitations: 
to this he received no answer, and soon afterwards 
wrote another, in which he modestly reminded 
his lordship, that //e was the person who suggest- 
ed the plan for raising the Sea Fencibles, as a mea- 
sure of auxiliary defence ; and intimated the ad- 
vantage which was likely to result from them, 
particularly with respect to Ireland. 

I have introduced this circumstance, merely 
because it is my opinion, that such an important 
suggestion, which has since been productive of 
so many advantages with respect to the defence 
of our coast, ought to be made known to the 
public at large ; for my own part, although I may 
have heard it before, it had entirely escaped my 
"memory; and it is my opinion, that I do a ser- 
vice, by bringing it into notice ; because the 
name of the proposer of a new tax or other 
scheme, of trivial and temporary advantage, is not 
unfrequently transmitted to posterity ; while the 
author of a proposition that may tend to the sal- 
vation of a country, is suffered to pass neglected 
into the vale of obscurity. 

At length, it appears, he obtained an answer 
of a J'ezv lines from his lordship, which stated, 
that the Admiralty had directed the Commis- 
sioners of the Navy to report on the expences of 
the ships under his orders in the East Indies! I 
have privately heard the nature of the directions 
given to the Commissioners, w r hich were of so pe- 
culiar a kind, that I cannot feel justified in re- 
peating them upon indirect evidence; but the last 
paragraph of that report, to which I have already 

* tf Concise Statement/' p. 16 and IS, 



20 

alluded, appears still more extraordinary to those 
who, like myself, have had an opportunity of in- 
specting the " Concise Statement of Facts :' J) for 
there, in page 19, they must have observed, that 
Sir Home, alter expressing his pleasure at the pro- 
posed investigation, solicits the permission to be 
called on by the Board, and to attend their Com- 
mittees, for the purpose of explaining many cir- 
cumstances, which might be more clearly under- 
stood by his observations. The Board, however, 
as I have already shown, were afraid to grant his 
request, though it was " coivformable to their 
usual mode:" they conceived it to be their 
lordships intention, that they should pro- 
ceed in this ex-parie and prejudiced manner; and 
they dared not to use their own discretion, or to 
act upon such a basis as they must have thought 
to be founded upon policy and justice ! 

The neglect and contempt with which this 
injured officer was treated, did not prevent him 
from continuing his solicitations for justice, and 
accordingly, in a spirited letter to Lord St. Vin- 
cent*, he states the claims which he has upon 
him for an interview, by referring to his services 
in the Red Sea. These operations, I am inclined to 
think, have never been properly known or appre- 
ciated; and I cannot but regret, that my limits 
will not allow me to record them more in detail ; par- 
ticularly as it appears in the clearest manner, that 
the object of his command was completely answer- 
ed, and, that General Baird and Marquis Welles- 
ley had testified to the ministry their high appro- 
bation of his conduct. It also appears, that imme- 
diately after his arrival in the Red Sea, he took the 
command of all the Company's chartered ships, 

* " Concise Statement/' p. 20. 



2| 

and observing a number to be engaged, beyond 
what the service required, he immediately dis- 
charged as many as exceeded in their hire, the 
sum of txvo lacks of rupees per month. He also 
procured a draftsman in England, at his own ex- 
pence, taught him hydrography and practical as- 
tronomy ; as he likewise did to the whole of 
his quarter-deck; and thus, by the assistance of 
eight chronometers and other valuable and expen- 
sive instruments, succeeded in forming a chart 
of the Red Sea, and proved the possibility of 
beating up against the Monsoon ; a practice 
which had never before been attempted, and the 
advantages of which, though they are doubtless 
lost upon the " Sea Lords" of the late Admiralty, 
as they are affectedly called, by the scribbler of 
the " Observations," are sufficiently known to the 
Company, and to every naval commander em- 
ployed by them, in that distant and dangerous 
region. 

It likewise appears, by a letter from Colonel 
Harness, published by order of Marquis Welles- 
ley, that, from the excellent state of the Romney's 
boats, and the spirited assistance of her crew, 
upwards of four hundred troops were saved from 
the Calcutta, which was wrecked in the Red Sea; 
but how must the feelings of the British public 
be shocked, when they learn that it was the in- 
tention of the late Board, to make this gallant of- 
ficer pay for the boat, by which these brave fel- 
lows were preserved, because she was not con- 
formable to the establishment of the navy ! and 
the same advantage was intended to be taken of 
him, with respect to any improvements he had 
made in the sails and rigging! 

While Sir Home was at Calcutta, we learn 
that he never suffered a bill to be drawn at higher 



22 

exchange than 2s, 6d. ; and on some objection^ 
being made to this economical and principled or- 
der, he informed the Vice President, that if lie did 
not supply the naval officer with money from the 
Company's treasury, for the repair of the Rom- 
ney, their interests should remain unprotected ; as 
he would never sanction a bill to be drawn at a 
higher rate than the Company's exchange. The 
importance of this measure must be appreciated 
at first view, by the public at large ; but its ef- 
fects are more completely understood by those 
who are conversant with Indian affairs. The 
man who performed such a service was, on this 
ground alone, entitled to general commendation ; 
and the late Board, we should think were bound 
to acknowledge his exertions with gratitude and 
sincerity, instead of preventing him from that op- 
portunity of vindicating his character, which is 
allowed to the most insignificant offender of the 
most trivial law. 

Such, at least, is the opinion of an impartial 
individual, totally unattached to any party, totally 
unconnected with any member of any admini- 
stration ; but Who, actuated by the genuine prin- 
ciples of honour and integrity, would have be- 
come the anonymous vindicator of Lord St. Vin- 
cent, or of any other person, had he conceived 
his general conduct to have been calculated to 
promote, the in- 
terests of his country. 

It is, on many accounts, much to be regret- 
ted, that the " Continuation of the Concise State- 
ment of Facts " to which I have already often 
alluded, has not been published to the world, in- 
stead of being privately circulated ; but particu- 
larly, because, although the " Observations" bear 
with them their own refutation, yet it is probable, 



23 

that such a glaring mass of scurrility and impos- 
ture would never have been brought before the 
public, had their authors been in possession of so 
simple a collection of candid and honourable de- 
tails as those which constitute this Statement. 
Amongst much interesting matter, the letters from 
Marquis Weliesley, the Earl of Cavan, and Major- 
General Baird, ought to claim the attention of every 
person who has seen the " Observations;" as they 
clearly show the high opinion which those officers 
entertained of the services of Sir Home; and in my 
opinion, their general publication is a duty which 
that gentleman owes to himself. Having, however, 
no reason to suppose that he will take my advice, 
I shall, for the information of the public, briefly 
mention a few striking points, contained in the 
" Concise Statement" which will enable them to 
appreciate the nature of his arduous services in 
a foreign clime. 

It is worthy of notice, notwithstanding the 
brief intimation I have already given of this cir- 
cumstance, that at a private examination of some 
officers and men, selected from the Romney for 
that purpose, and at which Sir Home, with great 
difficulty, obtained leave to be present; the result 
of the examination was, " that the repairs which 
were to be done to the Romney were absolutely 
necessary ; and that the Commander took every 
care of the King's stores, and never expended them 
in a wanton manner." 

But, not satisfied with making every kind of 
unfounded accusation against Sir Home, as com- 
mander of the Romney, it also appears from his 
" Statement," that a principal subject of com- 
plaint was, that he had appointed Mr. Louis to 
the situation of naval officer at Calcutta, though 
he offered the most unequivocal documents, to 



prove that he received his appointment from Ad- 
miral Rainier. 

It also appears, that the enormous sum, 
which Sir Home was accused of having expended 
upon the Romney, was no more than 7J,O0O 
rupees, which is far less than was paid for any ship 
that ever underwent a repair at Calcutta* ; though 
at the time she was taken into dock there, she 
was so leaky as to require the constant working 
of pumps. We find that Sir Home had the 
command of the Egyptian expedition, which 
went up the Red Sea, that he likewise had an 
exclusive political mission from the Secret Com- 
mittee, and was afterwards appointed ambassador 
to the Arabian States. Having overtaken Ge- 
neral Baird, he carried him to Cosseir, and dis- 
embarked there what was called the Indian army, 
under the command of that able and experienced 
general. In a few days after the disembarkation, 
Admiral Blanket anchored there, and was so well 
satisfied w T ith Home's judicious conduct, that he, 
by public order, desired him " to continue his ar- 
rangements, as better could not be made ;" and 
commanded all the persons under him to pay 
every attention to his orders. 

How grateful such a compliment must have 
been to the feelings of a respected officer, cannot 
but occur to every reader, who has experienced 
the pleasing ideas which arise from the sense of 
a just execution of a public duty, and the gene- 
rous attachment of a spirited band of Britons, 
who look up to a good commander, not merely as 
the director of their actions, but as their patron, 
friend, and father. 

* The navy books will show that, the repairs of L'Oiseau, 
La Forte, and L' Heroine, exceeded ^15,000 each: — those, of 
the Romney amounted scarcely to a^GOCO! 



25 

By a letter, addressed to Marquis Wellesley, 
Sir Home gives a plain and interesting account of 
his proceedings, from which it appears, that he 
rendered the most effectual assistance to General 
Baird's forces, particularly by supplying them 
with small casks, instead of the mussacks, which 
were intolerably bad ; and, without this expedient, 
it seems that the army would not have been able 
to march, even in small detachments. His next 
object was, to reduce the enormous expence of 
tonnage, by discharging such ships as appeared 
to be extravagantly freighted, and to dispense 
with others which were incompetent to the ser- 
vice. A subsequent paper explains the result of 
this judicious measure, and proves the advantage 
gained from it by government, to be the enormous 
amount which I have already mentioned*. 

But it would not have answered the purpose 
of this candid observer, to have noticed this sa- 
ving. — No, he knew it to be one of the prominent 
"•feathers" in the "cap" of the man he chose to 
revile, and his livid propensity for detraction and 
envy prevailed over those compunctions of con- 
science, with which, judging from the operations 
of that power upon men of integrity, I should 
think he must have been affected in the progress 
of his lucubrations. Yet, why should I wonder 
at the prevalence of this infernal propensity in 
such a mind ? — Milton has asserted, " that it was 
the cause of Lucifer's expulsion from the celestial 
regions, and of his being hurled into the bottom- 
less abyss," and, as this doctrine is not likely to be 
exploded, we may reasonably conclude that it is 
very plausible; and, though it maybe laid down 

* Sir Home has given it in a table, affixed to the " Con- 
tinuation of the Statement of Facts" — It is also mentioned in page 
103 of the " Statement." 



26 

as an established rule, that we are all more 
or less approximated to our spiritual adversary, 
yet we may consider, that those who are totally 
made up of that epitome of every ill-natured pas- 
sion, must bear the nearest affinity to the devil 
himself! 

The saving I have alluded to, evidently ex- 
ceeded, in three months, all the bills drawn by 
Sir Home's squadron in three years ; and yet, 
the malignant scribbler attacks that officer for 
having a canvas awning, to keep him from a "coup 
de soldi*!" Had I conceived this illiberal reviler 
to be affected by a coup de tune, I should have 
spared my animadversions ; but, unfortunately, 
the proportion of knaves and fools is much greater 
than that of madmen. 

The first advantage derived from Sir Home's 
political mission to Arabia, was the discovery that 
great abuses were committed by Meer-Ally Cawn 
at Juddah, who had chartered a variety of dows 
at an exorbitant rate, for the purpose of conveying 
provisions to the army. Sir Home immediately 
gave directions to put the cargoes of these vessels 
into empty transports, and, to stop the purchase 
of provisions, such as wheat, rice, and sugar, with 
which the army was then overstocked : he also 
prevented the shipment of 10,000 bags of corn r 

* This saving was fully sufficient to excite the spleen of 
an envious mind. Sir Francis Bacon says, " that, from strict ob- 
servation, it has appeared, that envy is most predominant when 
the person envied has been in any circumstance of glory or 
triumph, and that the objects which administer the highest sa- 
tisfaction to those who are exempt from this passion, give the 
quickest pangs to those who are subject to it." And Addison 
somewhere remarks, " that the condition of an envious man is 
most emphatically miserable, because he is not only incapable 
of rejoicing in another's merit, but lives in a world, where all 
mankind are in a plot against his quiet, by studying the general 
happiness/' 



V 

which were ordered from Bombay. — A variety of 
subordinate points are noticed in the letter alluded 
to, which show, that the advantages derived by 
the Company and the Government, in consequence 
of the economical investigations of this meritori- 
ous officer, were very considerable, and were such 
as fully to entitle him to the unequivocal thanks, 
which he received from the Governor-General. 

In another letter to Marquis Wellesley, Sir 
Home Popham gives a detail of his operations in 
Arabia, in the form of journal, through which I 
shall decline to follow him ; my wish being mere- 
ly to show, by a few detached and incontrovertible 
passages, the general tenor of his conduct, whe- 
ther in his capacity of commander of his Majesty 's 
ships, employed in the expedition, or as a commer- 
cial ambassador to promote the interests of the 
Company ; in the latter of which, his cautious fore- 
sight, commercial intelligence, and diplomatic inge- 
nuity were too conspicuous to need any comment. 
On his arrival at Juddah, he found that court almost 
in open hostility against the Company, and keep- 
ing sentinels at the door of the English resident. 
He immediately demanded an interview with the 
chiefs, settled the difference, by paying a note of 
hand for 9250 dollars, and discharged all the 
clows employed in conveying bullocks to Mocha, 
for the use of the army ; by which an instanta- 
neous saving was made of 23,000 rupees a month ! 
This account of his conduct at Juddah, and his 
remarks on the means of promoting the English 
interests in Arabia, were so gratifying to the Go- 
vernor-General, that, the moment he had perused 
his dispatches, he sent him a congratulatory let- 
ter, approving of his whole conduct, in the most 
unqualified terms. 

After his arrival at Calcutta, it appears that 



■■■HH 



28 

Sir Home presented several memorials to the Go- 
vernor-General, all of which are replete with im- 
portant suggestions, relative not only to the pro- 
motion or every branch of the Company's in- 
terests, but also that of the power and fame of the 
nation at large ; and, to each of these papers, 
which form the great mass of the " Concise State- 
ment ," his Excellency has returned an answer so 
highly flattering, as to prove, in the clearest man- 
ner, that the Government of India considered his 
advice as invaluable. Indeed, the very dates of 
his letters alone show his incessant activity, while 
his remarks exhibit such a degree of political and 
general knowledge, as reflect the highest credit 
upon his talents and judgment. One letter in 
particular, which he sent to Marquis Wellesley, 
and which contained suggestions relative to turn- 
ing the whole of the exports from Sennaar into 
the Company's factories, was thought of so much 
importance by the Marquis, that he immediately 
returned an answer, assuring Sir Home of the 
high stmse he retained of his zeal, talents, and 
knowledge, and of the confidence which he should 
repose in the success of any operation, conducted 
by an officer of such acknowledged enterprise and 
skill; and he repeats his sincere thanks to Sir 
Home, for the promptitude with which he had 
enabled him to obtain a more accurate view of 
the state of our army in Egypt, as well as of the 
affairs of Arabia, than he could possibly have ac- 
quired by any other mode. 

From this cursory view of the important 
commissions on which Sir Home has been engaged, 
(and his successful execution of which, formed, 
in my opinion, the primary cause of all that con- 
catenation of enmity and malevolence with which 
he has been surrounded) , I shall revert to a more 



29 

detailed examination of the report of the Naval 
Commissioners, relative to the ships under his 
command ; a report which has already been 
brought before the public in every possible shape 
which could contribute to give weight and colour 
to the (in my opinion unwarrantable) charges, of 
which it is made the vehicle. 

The avowal of these reporters, (amongst 
whom, however, I observe individuals of high re- 
spectability, though connected w r ith others of a 
more equivocal character), very candidly admits, 
that truth was not the object of their investiga- 
tion; and they palliate this deviation from pro- 
priety, by expressing their obedience to the wishes 
of those by whom it was ordered. Why Sir Home 
Popham should have been fixed upon as the point 
of attack, I cannot imagine, unless from the idea 
I have already intimated, that his talents and ser- 
vices had excited in certain narrow-minded in- 
dividuals the spirit of malevolence, instead of ap- 
plause ; for, 

" Men who make 

Envy and crooked malice nourishment, 

Dare bite the best.'' Shakespeare. 

I will endeavour to unfold their proceedings 
to general view, in order that the merited portion 
of disgrace may attach to those unprincipled beings 
who are considered as their promoters ; for, il Cur 
omnium jit culpa paucorum scelus ?" — The per- 
sons who made the report had a defined task to 
perform ; they, as I have already shown, received 
peculiar instructions, from which they confess 
they could not deviate; and those who, under the 
mask of patriotism, employed them on such an 
occasion, are alone responsible for its results. The 



30 

learned writer of the " Observations" quotes a line 
to show how the injured object of attack will, in 
his opinion, be "put down" by the " plain tale'* 
yclep'd the Commissioners' Report— -It is a ques- 
tion with me whether the analysis I shall give of 
Sir Home's Continuation of his Statement will 
not point out to every unbiassed reader to what 
a degree, " de jure humano" this stupid libeller 
ought to be exalted. 

"It might reasonably have been expected," 
says Sir Home, "that the very flattering testi- 
monials which I laid before the Lords Commis- 
sioners of the Admiralty would at least have sof- 
tened their asperity, if they had not been deemed 
sufficient to remove the impressions which had 
originated in an entire misconception of my cha- 
racter and conduct." — And so it would in ho- 
nest and honourable minds; but in the present in- 
stance the number and respectability of those 
testimonials of his virtue gave asperity to envy, 

activity to detraction, and malice to inquiry 

"Envy is blind," said Livy, "and has no other 
quality than that of detractingfrom Virtue." — The 
candid Observer may perhaps establish, that she 
has other, although corresponding labours. 

Enlightened mechanicians, in the first in- 
stance, generally propose a principle to every fa- 
bric; but in this report we see a fabrication, void 
of principle, even by the confession of that Board 
itself. This is completely proved by their own 
concluding paragraph, which I shall adopt, by way 
of a text, and proceed in my refutation on a 
ground which I think will be conformable not 
only to the intention of the present Lords of the 
Admiralty, but of a greater body, the public at 
large; for, when any board or public body pro- 
fesses to act upon principles contrary to those to 



31 

which it owes its formation, I think it must be 
admitted to forfeit ail claim to public opinion 
and support. The paragraph of the Board to 
which I allude is so singular and extraordinary, 
that some of the members who belonged to that 
institution have, I am well assured, declared it 
to be in their opinion nothing less than a libel 
upon the Admiralty in its official capacity. It is 
as follows: 

"We deem it necessary to state farther, to 
their lordships, that the report has been formed 
from the documents in office, without our having 
called on Sir Home Popham, agreeably to 
our usual mode, for an explanation of any 
of the circumstances referred to therein, con- 
ceiving- IT TO HAVE BEEN THEIR LORD- 
SHIP'S INTENTION THAT WE SHOULD PRO- 
CEED IN THIS manner!!!" 

When we consider the spirit of animosity 
which appears to have prevailed against Sir Home, 
there is indeed some reason to suspect that their 
lordships' intentions were far different from what 
must have been dictated by views of propriety 

and For example, Sir Home positively 

assures his friends, in his " Continuation" that 
although he repaired to the Admiralty with all 
the documents in his favour, which he had re- 
ceived from the Marquis of Wellesley, and other 
distinguished characters, it was nevertheless of 
no avail that he pressed the late Admiralty to 
bring to an immediate issue all the accusations 
preferred against him. — But Lord St. Vincent in- 
timated, that he would not be troubled on the 
subject*, and at length Sir Home received a let- 
ter from Mr. Marsden, which stated that the Re- 

* e< Continuation of the Concise Statement," p. 3. 



ports of the Commissioners of the Navy and Vic- 
tualling, relative to the expenditure and supplies 
for the ships under Sir H's orders, were to be 
laid before the Commissioners of Inquiry into Na- 
val abuses! — and farther, that, on receiving the 
report from the Navy Board, their lordships were 
pleased to direct that all the bills drawn on ac- 
count of the said ships, should be charged as an 
imprest against him ; and that his pay and half- 
pay, as well as that of Captain Sause of the Sen- 
sible, and Lieutenant Davies, should be stoptl / / 

Is this ingratitude surpassed by the infamous 
conduct of the Government of Justinian towards 
the gallant veteran Belisarius, to whom they were 
indebted for the renewal of their ancient glory ? 
Addison, in one of his essays, observes that " a 
man is unfit for a place of trust, who is of a sour, 
untractable nature, or who has any other passion 
that makes him uneasy to those who approach 
him ;V but the difficulty of access to the Sea- 
Lords would have been a trifling subject of com- 
plaint, had those who demanded justice at their 
hands 

Why were not these gentlemen permitted to 
speak in their justification, before the sentence, 
involving both their character and their property, 
was passed against them ? — Our laws direct, that 
no man shall be a judge in his own cause*, that 
the accused shall be confronted with his accusers ; 
and that he shall be deemed innocent, until he is 
proved otherwise. The forms of law, some one has 
observed, (I believe Junius), are essential to our 
constitution, but much more so to its principle 
and equity. Why, I must demand, have these 
been departed from in this investigation ? Has it 



* « 



Aliquis non debet esse judex in propria causa.' 



33 

not been because justice would not suit the pur- 
pose of persecution? — Or has it proceeded from a 
modest admission of the truism, that a corrupt 
judge is not qualified to inquire into the truth* ? 
From a subsequent part of the correspond- 
ence, however, it appears as if their lordships had 
been visited by some transitory compunctions of 
conscience; and they in consequence directed 
Mr. Marsden to write to Sir Home, and inform 
him that he might be furnished with copies of the 
Reports; and also, that the papers which were 
referred to the Commissioners, related merely to 
the expenditure and purchase of stores for his ships, 
and the sale of the articles sent on shore ; thus, 
indirectly insinuating, that the whole blame, if 
any should appear, rested with Mr. Louis, and 
that the Captain of the Romney would be thereby 
exonerated from any charges which the Report 
might contain. Mr. Marsden's letter added, that 
their lordships had desired him to say, that "they 
had neither time nor powers fully to investigate 
the circumstances alluded to." — They had, how- 
ever, leisure to anticipate conviction ; they had 
time to calumniate, and, unfortunately, they had 
powers to punish. By this latter faculty, they 
estimated the merits of the casef. Perish, I say, 
that power, which has been obtained by evil 
means, retained by similar practices, and which 
was administered as badly as it was acquired ; and, 
thank heaven, I have seen it so overthrown, that 
the memory of its abuses alone reminds me that it 
ever had existence! Well might those who thus 
abused their power, endeavour to retain it. They 
applied to themselves the remark of the devil, 

* " Male ven.vm examinat omnls coiruptus judex'* Hok. 
t " Measuraque juris vis erat." Lucan. 

F 



when admonishing his angels — " Descent and fall 
to us is adverse." — They may now be convinced 
of its applicability; for they have fallen, (possibly) 
never to rise again ! 

No exertions, it is evident, were omitted by 
Sir Home, to procure the official documents, in 
order to refute the allegations they might contain ; 
but it appears, that the dignified Sea-Lords, with 
consistent propriety, wished to retract their pro- 
mise, for the Commissioners of the Navy Board 
informed Sir Home, in April last, that they could 
not send him a copy of the Reports, having re- 
ceived no orders for that purpose, but that he 
might be allowed a copy of the papers which ac- 
companied it. In August, however, he was in- 
formed, that the papers could not be found; 
and therefore, that he could not be supplied with 
any copies at all! How the copies were lost is not 
explained ; but this may, perhaps, be an instance, 
in which they (the Commissioners), " departed 
from their customary mode of proceeding," con- 
ceiving that they acted conformably to the inten- 
tion of the Admiralty Board. At length Sir 
Home received the Report of the Navy Board, 
relative to the works performed on the Romney, 
but without any of the papers on which it was 
founded ; and, to each article of this Report, he 
has replied in terms the most decided and con- 
clusive. His arguments are the emblems of his 
mind, 

" Mild, but not faint; and forcing, though serene/* 

the honest, unsophisticated language of inno- 
cence, appealing irresistibly to the head and 
heart of every man who can be said to possess 
either. 

Had the candid and disinterested author of 



35 

the " Observations" condescended to favour his 
readers with this reply of Sir Home to the Report, 
which latter he calls an answer to Sir Home's first 
" Statement" the controversy would have been 
at an end; for the public, with materials of both 
parties before them, might at once have seen the 
absurdity of the accusations, and the magnanimity 
of the defence ; but this would not have answered 
the purpose of his partizans : — their object was ob- 
viously to traduce, and so rigid has been their 
constancy in opposing conviction, that through- 
out the entire mass, 1 cannot discover the mostinad- 
vertent disposition to tell the truth. Indeed, so 
eager do they appear to have been in their 
...... career, 

te That each man stand to do his best, 
To damn and slander all the rest*." 

With the nature of the charges contained 
in the Report, the public are well acquainted. Of 
the refutation, they as yet know nothing more 
than what they may have acquired from my pre- 
ceding remarks on Sir Home's private publica- 
tion. Let us then observe some of the answers 
to the most pointed passages in that Report, which 
I will give as briefly as possible, and accompanied 
with but few observations, from a conviction, that 
any comment of mine will but extenuate their im- 
portance. 

Sir Home Popham is accused of having per- 

* My poetical readers will doubtless perceive that I have 
made a trivial alteration in my quotation from Hudibras. 
In fact, a political writer of the present day, must not venture to 
adopt that liberty of speech which prevailed in the time of But- 
ler, .lest, in the opinion of Mr. Erskine, the once-famed vin- 
dicator of the liberty of the press, he should " stand in the situ- 
ation of a malignant libeller!" 



36 

mitted an unnecessary expenditure of stores, and 
thk charge is attempted to be supported by the 
calculations of the Navy Office, of the propor- 
tionate allowances requisite under the current 
duty of ordinary service, without taking into ac- 
count the numerous and novel situations in which 
the Romney was engaged. No allowance is 
made for the destructive influence of an ardent 
vertical sun, beyond the general consumption in 
our own climate, and it is expected that the com- 
mon number of anchors and cables which would 
be deemed necessary in our own safe and defined 
anchorages, would suffice in the exposed road- 
steads, on the eastern coasts of Hindostan, or the 
previously almost unknown navigation of the Red 
Sea. This carries such absurdity on the face of 
it, that I will not weary the patience of my 
readers, by any attempt at its refutation. When, 
however, I hear of the innumerable vessels lost 
by parting from their anchors, owing to the gene- 
rally admitted defective quality of their cables; 
when I reflect on the loss of the York, and some 
other calamities, originating in similar causes, I 
am powerfully impelled to praise the honesty and 
independence of Sir Home Popham, in making 
adequate provision for the safety of his vessel, in 
opposition to the narrow and parsi- 
mony of the late Naval Government. 

Sir Home Popham has, however, by positive 
evidence, confuted the flimsy assertions drawn 
from the fallacious estimates to which I ha ,r e al- 
luded; and he has proved, that, instead of con- 
niving at the waste of the public stores, he has 
conscientiously and successfully laboured to cor- 
rect several points of public expence. By one 
arrangement, in regard to transports, it is "a fact 
capable of demonstration," that he saved to the 



37 

country, no less a sum than from 17 to 26,000L 
per month, while the service was better performed, 
in consequence of his having unencumbered it of 
vessels of no essential advantage ; and by substi- 
tuting a liberal and active system of operation 
throughout the fleet. 

The honourable discharge of another duty, 
to which I have also before alluded, or that relative 
to the exchange, was highly creditable for this 
officer. I have shown that, when the advance 
was likely to be infinitely higher than the fair rate, 
Sir Home established an equitable standard ; and 
Mr. Spearman, the purser of the Romney, who 
was, by Sir Home's appointment, the acting 
Naval Officer in the Red Sea*, observes, "that 
when the Comparative Statement was making out 
at the Victualling Office, no notice was taken of 
the difference of exchange between bills drawn 
by order of Sir Home and those of any other com- 
manding officer in the Red Sea, though those 
drawn by others were from 2s. 8d. the rupee up- 
wards, to a great extent, w 7 hile those drawn by 
order of Sir H. were never allowed to be at a 
higher exchange than 2s. 6d. the rupee. 

The Report made by the Victualling Board 
relates evidently and entirely to the purser of the 
ship, instead of to the Commanding Officer; and 
to him Sir Home very properly referred it. 

The other charges are likewise of the most 
contemptible description ; some relate to empty- 
casks, which Sir Home, under the urgency of his 
orders, was obliged to leave behind at Weymouth ; 
and of which circumstance he apprised the Vic- 
tualling Board, in order that they might be 
recovered. Another alludes to the purchase of 

* " Continuation of the Concise Statement," p. 30. 



38 

wine at Madeira, by order of Sir Home, who is 
asserted, by these impartial examiners, to have 
given an exorbitant price fbr it to Mr. Pringle, 
the British Consul. But they must have known 
the fallacy of this charge at the time that they 
made it — They must have known that the fact 
was diametrically the reverse of what they had 
stated it to be ; for, at that very period, there 
subsisted a contract between them and that gen- 
tleman, under which he was then furnishing, for 
our troops in the West Indies, wine of the same 
quality, and at a considerably higher price than 
that at which it was procured for the Romney, 
at what they are pleased to call exorbitant terms*. 
There is a similar charge with respect to vinegar, 
purchased from Mr. Louisf, and the price at 
which vinegar might have been purchased, is ex- 
ultingly contrasted with that at which it was 
bought; but, with consistent candour they with- 
hold a fact, which must indisputably have been 
known to them, namely, that the common vine- 
gar made in India, and which is usually suppiled 
by the contractors, is of such a miserable kind, 
as to destroy the health of those who use it, while 
that furnished by Mr. Louis was white-wine 
vinegar, brought from Europe, and which is sold 
in India nearly as dear as the wine itself. 

It was doubtless to this humane foresight 
and attention of the Captain of the Romney, that 
the health of his crew was so well maintained 
throughout their arduous service ; for at Suez, 
where an army of 20,000 men were to be sup- 

* The reason why a good price was given for this wine, is 

explained by Sir Home, in p. 16, of the " Continuation of the 

Concise Statement," in a way which, by indisputably proving 

his praiseworthy motives, confers upon him the highest credit. 

| Ibid, p. 48. 



39 

plied, and where there were no provisions, but 
what were sent on speculation by the merchants in 
India ; Sir Home never suffered any to be shipped 
that were not of the best quality, though inferior 
articles, purchased by the Victualling Board, in 
different parts of India, cost the contractors much 
more than those which were purchased at Suez 
by the purser of the Romney, 

It is service like this, that has subjected Sir 
Home Popham to the hostility he has experienced ; 
it is for this he has been held forth as an object 
of suspicion ; it is for this a pecuniary penalty has 
been inflicted on him, in the stoppage of his pay; 
yet, if this be the public delinquency, what ge- 
nerous mind does not emulate his guilt, does not 
participate in his sufferings, and would not vin- 
dicate his wrongs ? What man, having the in- 
terest of the service at heart, would not act as he. 
has done, and, like him, triumph in the enmity 
which such conduct has provoked ? 

All the remarks made by Sir Home Popham, 
in refutation of the charges alledged against him, 
are fully confirmed by Mr. Spearman, in a long 
string of observations, amongst which, I could 
not help particularly noticing those which relate 
to some futile insinuations, about the log not cor- 
responding with the different accounts. "The 
live cattle account not agreeing with the log," 
says he, " may be owing to the mate being incor- 
rect in his entries : the only difference is, that I 
debit myself with 9Slb. of fresh beef more than 
the log gives ; consequently, this trifling irregu- 
larity bears in favour of Government, and against 
my own interest. And," he continues, " as to 
the log not corresponding with the respective ac- 
counts, I do not in the least wonder at it, when I 
recollect the general inaccuracy with which logs 



40 

are kept. The apparent surplus of wine, and other 
articles noticed therein, were in all probability, 
private stock." Every man conversant with na- 
val affairs, is aware how little attention is paid to 
the general nature of log-keeping ; it is intrusted to 
the mate of the watch, and unless some object 
arises to fix his attention, he fills up his log with 
the same characteristic indifference with which 
he rubs through the other current duties of his 
vocation. I recollect an anecdote, illustrative of 
this observation, although the officer's name has 
escaped my memory — Wearied of the dull repeti- 
tion of courses, winds, and bearings, and, either 
ambitious to give a new feature to his log, or per- 
suaded that it mattered not what was inserted in 
it, had the 20th chapter of Exodus copied in it, 
a verse for every day of his cruise ! 

The errors which were detected in the logs of 
the Romney appear to have taken place while 
Sir Home was absent from the ship, attending upon 
Lord Granville, by Admiralty orders ; and it is 
curious, that though the Commissioners appear to 
have taken unusual pains to detect the most in- 
significant mistakes, they never make the slightest 
mention of any merits which the logs might pos- 
sess ; such as, the succession of important astro- 
nomical observations, and many other minutiae, 
which, it must occur to the most prejudiced ob- 
server, the logs must have contained. But com- 
mendation was, doubtless, contrary to their in- 
structions, " and not conformable to the intention 
of their lordships !" 

I cannot find room in these Brief Remarks, 
nor do I think it all necessary, to mention every 
point contained in the " Continuation of the 
Concise Statement of Facts" which goes to refute 
the many absurd and contemptible charges alledg- 



41 



ed in the Reports ; but there are, on the other 
hand, certain passages so deeply interwoven with 
the vindication of that honourable officer, that it 
would be an act of injustice to pass over them in 
silence. The principal of these are the follow- 



ing: 



In page 68 of the "Continuation," already 
alluded to,, is an affidavit from Mr. D. E. Bartho- 
lomew, formerly master's mate of the Romney, 
which states, that in June 1803, being unemploy- 
ed, he applied to Earl St. Vincent for promotion, 
and, after several applications, he was, on the 13th 
of December, ordered up from Chatham for exa- 
mination. On the 17th, he was again ordered to 
attend, in hopes that he would receive a commis- 
sion ; but, as soon as he announced his name, he 
was seized by a press-gang ', by, as he understood, 

the particular order of ; that he 

was kept on board the tender for three days, and 
afterwards sent on board the Zealand, at the 
Nore, where he was immediately tampered with, 
relative to the cutting of the cable of the Romney, 
&c. with a view, as he supposes, to obtain some 
information, on which Sir Home Popham might 
be impeached! &c. &c. 

Mr. Bartholomew adds, that he is convinced 
in his opinion, that this was their object, and that 
Captain , of the , had his pri- 
vate instructions ; because, although he was 
sent on board that ship as an impressed man, the 
Captain invited him into the cabin, and endeavour- 
ed to extract from him, in writing, any observa- 
tions respecting the supposed misapplication of 
the cable of the Romney ; and because Mr. For- 
syth, a lieutenant of the Zealand, told him, that 
Mr. Davies, formerly first lieutenant of the Rom- 
ney, was under arrest, in consequence of Nixon, 

G 



; 42 

the boatswain of the Romney, and who was then 
boatswain of the Zealand, having written a letter 
to the Board on the subject of the cable. The 
officers of the Zealand, it appears, did not hesitate 
to tell him, that they considered his impressment 
to be for the purpose of keeping him as a witness 
against his late commander. He soon after asked 
Nixon what was the purport of his letter to the 
Board, when he told him, "that he was deterr 
mined not to lose his wages, (which, I have al- 
ready observed, was stopt, as well as that of all 
the other officers, by order of the Admiralty), 
and therefore, he said, that the cable cut in Bal- 
lasore roads was short a peake when cut; that 
the remaining part was cut up by Mr. Davies, 
and converted into oakum ; and that he had said, 
Mr. Davies would not allow him to get a receipt 
for it from Mr. Hudson*," &c. Nixon added, 
that all letters sent to and from him, were inspect- 
ed by Captain Mitchell, agreeably to q?i order of 
the Board. From these, and other circumstances, 
Mr. Bartholomew, in his affidavit, again declares, 
in the most positive manner, his entire conviction, 

that his impressment, by order of ■ ■ ■ 

was not for the purpose of securing his ser- 
vices, because he had previously offered them, 
but with the sole view of extorting some evidence 
against Sir Home's conduct ; though he declares, 
that he never could alledge any thing against him ; 
and that he never sailed with any captain who 
paid more attention to the health, comfort, and 
discipline of his ship's company, or who was 
more economical with respect to the stores ! 

On reading the detail of these transactions, 
my mind revolts with disgust and indignation, 

* €< Continuation of the Concise Statement," p. 70. 



43 

and I can, with no small difficulty persuade my- 
self, that I live in a country, where any upstart 
individuals dare, with impunity, to commit an out- 
rage of such magnitude, against the personal 
liberty of the subject, and the well being of the 
service. 

I had before heard of this kidnapping expe- 
dient ; but I am unable to decide whether the ac- 
count which reached me, was an imperfect report 
of the daring violation committed upon Mr. Bar- 
tholomew ; or whether the late , in the 

plenitude of their uncontroled authority, may 
not have extended the same system to other indi- 
viduals, whose less fortunate situation than that 
of the gentleman just mentioned, may have left 
them the abandoned victims of the most uncon- 
stitutional oppression ? But I have been informed 
that one individual concerned in this scandalous 
event, (though knowing, as I do, the character of 
those by whom he was surrounded, I cannot bring 
myself to believe that it originated with him) 
is fast approaching to his hour of retribution; 
and though I feel the full force of that beautiful 
sentiment of Ovid, " Res est sacra Miser," and 
have such a hallowed respect for the afflicted, as 
to turn with disgust from those who would insult 
or depress them ; yet, when reflecting on the 
anecdote I have just described, I feel strongly in- 
clined to ask that simple question proposed by 
Mother Cole to the Minor, " Mercy on us, where 
do you expect to go when you die!" 

While I am upon the subject of the affida- 
vits, I shall, in justice, advert to certain points 
contained in those of the other officers of the 
Romney, who voluntarily came forward to vindi- 
cate the character of their commander. Mr. 
Davis, whom I have already mentioned, declares 



44 

that no captain could pay more attention to the 
health and discipline of the crew ; and that he was 
in the constant habit of causing the stores to be 
got up and aired, whenever the weather would 
permit, in order to contribute to their preserva- 
tion. He adds, that no unnecessary expence 
ever took place in the ship; and that none of the 
rigging was ever unrove, or the sails unbent, ex- 
cept when absolutely necessary; that, on the con- 
trary, the running rigging was deemed not trust- 
worthy long before it was replaced; that Sir 
Home, in the most benevolent manner, supplied 
all the men who were sick with provisions and 
wine from his own table ; and that one man, who 
was ill, was supplied with a pint of wine per day 
at Sir Home's expence, for upwards of twelve 
months, at a cost to him of £60. Another lieu- 
tenant of the Romney, Mr. R. W. Clarke, de- 
poses, that he has been twenty-four years in the 
navy, and that he never knew an officer whp con- 
ducted himself with more strict propriety, or who 
was more attentive to the health and comforts of 
the crew, and economy in the use of the stores. 
Mr. Shoveller, the surgeon of the Romney, makes 
oath, that during nearly three years, while he was 
on board, the ship was uncommonly healthy, 
which he attributes to the great care taken of 
the sick, and the humane treatment of the crew by 
Sir Home Popham, who paid the greatest atten- 
tion to their general cleanliness, and issued them, 
from his own private stock, wine and porter in- 
stead of grog ; he adds, that the life of the pa- 
tient lately alluded to was, in all probability, 
saved by the humanity and liberality of that gen- 
tleman. In the three years that this deponent 
was on board, only eleven men died of disease. 
There are many trivial passages in the Re- 



45 

port which I do not deem worthy of particular 
notice, though they are all fully and ably an- 
swered by Sir Home in his Continuation, such 
as the remark, that "the boatswain's and carpen- 
ter's stores appear to exceed the allowed pro- 
portion; the articles relative to the junk, the 
old canvas, the attempts that are made to esta- 
blish an inaccuracy of dates, &c. &c. 

With respect to the anchor lost in Ballasore 
Roads, the accounts of Mr. Halliday, the naval 
officer at Bombay, prove that he paid for an anchor 
which had been hooked and weighed in the Red 
Sea ; but with respect to the weight of the anchor 
lost by the Romney, " it is impossible to guess," 
says Sir Home, "what is meant to be insinuated 
by this part of the Report, seeing that the an- 
chor expended in Ballasore Roads was too heavy 
to be brought on board in any one's pocket; and 
it must therefore have been supplied some- 
where. 

Great stress is laid by the Reporters upon 
of the total amount of the charges for the repairs 
the Romney; but though they often express their 
surprise at the demands of the different agents, 
particularly those of Hudson and Bacon, which, 
for aught I know, may, though usual, be ex- 
orbitant, yet they obstinately endeavour to im- 
plicate Sir Home in these charges, as if it were 
possible for him to compel the agents or builders 
to furnish the stores and repairs at any rate 
which he might propose. The writer of the Ob- 
servations, as if, exulting in the confusion in which 
the Commissioners appear to have been occa- 
sionally involved, declares that " it is notorious 
that the price of ship building, both as to work- 
manship and materials, including such as are im- 
ported from Europe, is as cheap at Calcutta a$ 



46 

in England!" — It is sufficiently notorious, that the 
vapid corruscations of this author's genius have 
again given way to the all-devouring flame of 
envy: — he could find here no point which would 
admit of perversion, and he has brought forward 
what every man, who has the least knowledge of 
foreign trade, must know to be a gross and 
direct falsehood. — But such contemptible malig- 
nity carries with it its own exposure.; — The Com- 
missioners themselves, notwithstanding their sur- 
prise at some of the charges, would never have 
thought of making an assertion so absurd and 
ridiculous. 

It appears that Mr. Louis, who is, accord- 
ing to every account, a gentleman of strict inte- 
grity and the highest respectability, is yet to be 
examined with regard to his expenditures on the 
Romney and Sensible, and particularly because 
he did not give a receipt for the two anchors 
which were returned to him at Calcutta, though 
it has been clearly shown that he was absent 
at the time they were delivered. The investi- 
gation, however, was ordered to be carried on 
against him with equal rigour, because the Ad- 
miralty was so infatuated as to persist, in spite 
of conviction, that he must have owed his ap- 
pointment to Sir Home Popham, though he had 
held his situation long before the arrival of the 
latter in India. 

I am strongly inclined to think that economy 

was considered, by the late — • , 

pretty much in the light that conscience is repre- 
sented by Cibber's Richard, " A bug-bear hung 
forth to scare your shallow hungry daws, but not 
set up to fright themselves." The following anec- 
dote will, however, show that some people in the 
secret "know it to be rags." When those of- 



47 

ficers, by the immoderate sale of almost all the 
small vessels of war in the navy, were obliged to 
hire a number of gun-boats for the defence of 

the coast, &c. one called the E e was tendered 

by Mr. , of Plymouth, brother-in-law of Mr. 

, the then private secretary of . 

The offer was referred to the master builder, 
(also brother-in-law of Mr. ) and he re- 
porting that the vessel was efficient, and in all 
respects eligible, she was taken into the service. 
Shortly after, a lieutenant, whose name I be- 
lieve was H , was appointed to command 

her. Her general appearance was so strongly 
indicative of decay, that he reported his appre- 
hension of putting to sea in her; and, not im- 
mediately impressing the master builder with his 
opinion, he lifted up some of the scantlings, and 
filled his hat with the rotten dust of her timbers. 
On this exposition, farther complaints were sup- 
pressed, by a promise that every thing should be 

done, and accordingly this vessel of Mr. , 

which had been pronounced efficient by his re- 
lative, the master builder, was repaired at the 
public expence, and cost the country, as I have 
heard, nearly £2000 to place her in a con- 
dition to put to sea. At length she sailed to 

Guernsey, and on Lieutenant H reporting 

himself, to the Admiral, Sir , that 

excellent and intelligent officer, expressed his 
surprise that the Admiralty should send him, as an 
addition to his force, a vessel which was only fit 
to be broken up: — he could not trust her to sea, 
and she was stationed as a guard-ship in Gran- 
ville Bay; but, latterly, for her better protection, 
she was hauled within the pier, and there remain- 
ed until Sir could send her to Portsmouth. 

I have given this anecdote as it reached me, "no- 



48 

thing extenuating, or setting down aught in ma- 
lice;" if it be essentially erroneous, I do a kind- 
ness to the parties, by affording them an oppor- 
tunity to refute a report already in very extended 
circulation; if it be true, I trust the matter will 
be investigated. I am not, thank Heaven, yet 
so corrupted, as to pronounce a verdict upon an 
ex-part e statement — there is strong presumptive 
evidence of guilt on the face of the charge. I 
cannot anticipate the defence, but it is possible 
one may be made out, and I will not prejudice 
it by any opinion. I must, however, observe, 
that it is probable we should not have heard 
complaints of exorbitant charges for the repairs 
of the Romney, had they been made by one of 
the confraternity. 

It will be interesting to see what share the 
author of the pamphlet, under my review, has 
had in this transaction. I am strongly of opinion 
that he has, to use the words of Plutarch, pre- 
tended to be the physician of others, whilst he 
himself teemed with ulcers. That he should 
pretend to be an author, I must ascribe to his 
zeal. Johnson, on a like occasion, observed, 
" the man takes much pains to prove himself an 
ass ; he is not a genius by nature, he is only a 
blockhead by art. Without quarreling with the 
modern physiologists, or disputing their system of 
craniology, in its general application, I am, in the 
present instance, disposed to be of the opinion of 
Helvetius, and to think that nature ushered this 
man into the world a mere blank, for any knave 
to set his mark on. — A laborious probation 
through life has given him a tolerable insight into 
its vices, and he has profited by this knowledge, 
to feed the malice and indulge the rancour of 
his patron. I hope he may continue to eulogize 



49 

this man, until he place him in his proper colour, 
since it is admitted that " nothing blackens like 
the ink of fools." 

I have only one more remark to offer, and 
that relates to the method adopted for the circu- 
lation of the contemptible jumble of folly and 
falsehood, called " Observations on a Pam- 
phlet WHICH HAS 1 BEEN PRIVATELY CTRCU- 

LateDj" &c. Now, in the name of candour and 
liberality, who would not regard with strong sus- 
picion the motives of a man who publishes a 
book to the world with a view to refute reports 
which have been privately circulated amongst 
the friends of its author, and of the contents of 
which the public at large can know nothing? By 
such a mode, if his abilities prove equal to the 
task, he may easily attract general attention, and 
his calumnies may pass for facts, because the 
public do not possess the means of counteracting 
them by the truth. But against such' an antago- 
nist as the scribbler in question, the integrity of 
Sir Home must prove invulnerable; for, not pos- 
sessing the ability to write a pamphet, he has 
recourse to making one out of the labours of his 
partizans. 

It just now occurs to my memory, that, in 
one of the affidavits that were read on a late 

trial instituted by the Sea-Lords, Mr. — ■ 

asserts, that he could with ease write, in half an 
hour, a tract which should refute all the state- 
ments contained in the suppressed Pamphlet! 
Are we to consider the " Observations" as a 
specimen of the tract-making talents of this gen- 
tleman, or of some one of his coadjutors, equally 
gifted with the currente calamo ? Let us examine 
of what their pamphet consists. — No less than six 
whole paragraphs, or five pages of print ! Then 3 

H 



50 

by way of filling out, are quoted, literally, the 
first thirteen quarto pages of Sir Home's " Con- 
cise Statement of Facts," with the omis- 
sion, as I have before observed, of all the justifi- 
catory notes and letters ; and, lastly, these no- 
table " Observations" are extended to sixty 
pages, by the addition of the Commissioners' 
Report, which had previously been published by 
its promoters in every possible way, and for 
which republication, under a new title, we are 
now modestly charged two shillings. The pam- 
phlet is then blazoned forth as being a most 
wonderful thing; curiosity is excited, the pam- 
phlet is sold, and its purchasers become the 

dupes of 

I should not have presumed to act the critic, 
a task for which so few are qualified, had not the 
following very admirable mode of puffing at- 
tracted my notice, for which I have in vain 
endeavoured to recollect a parallel, even in 
what is reported of the annals of Grub-street. 

From the Times (the Moniteur of the 
cabal) of Jan. % 1805. 

SIR HOME POPHAM. 

" A Publication is "very much the object of 
general conversation in the Ministerial and 
Naval Circles, which has lately appeared in an- 
swer to a Pamphlet privately distributed by Sir 
Home Popham. This officer, having conceived 
himself to be very much aggrieved by an enquiry 
which the late Board of Admiralty had ordered 
to be made into the propriety and justness of 
certain repairs, (and the charges made on that 
account,) as well as the purchase, price, and ap- 
plication of the stores, &c. made and delivered 
on board the Romney, and another ship under 



51 

his command, thought proper to circulate a re- 
presentation, to which was affixed the anonymous 
opinion of Counsel at the bar, &c. 

The present publication, entitled " Observa- 
tions upon a Pamphlet privately circulated, &c. is 
evidently intended to vindicate the propriety of 
the conduct of that Board in directing the en- 
quiry; for which purpose the Report of the 
Navy Board is affixed, as the most complete an- 
swer, upon the one hand, to the complaints of 
Sir Home Popham; and the best justification, 
on the other, of the Admiralty, for ordering the 
enquiry. It is impossible for an issue to 
be more fairly stated; and as the point is 
argued with great ability, we feel that we shall 
gratify our readers, as well as acquit ourselves of 
a public duty, in giving some account of the 
Pamphlet, and some extracts both from it and 
the Report." 

Then follow a few lines on what is called 
Sir Home's resentment, after which the writer 
modestly adds, " It is impossible to present such 
an epitome of this interesting Pamphlet as should 
entirely satisfy the curiosity of the public : (im- 
possible to present an epitome of six paragraphs] 
However they will try what can be done). The 
following extracts, however, will suffice to shew 
the nature of the contest, and upon what side 
the truth and advantage are to be found." 

As it is impossible to present an epitome, 
they judiciously resolve to give nearly the whole I 
but, without letting the reader into this secret, 
they quote, verbatim, three paragraphs out of the 
six, and follow them up with a column of such ex- 
tracts from the Navy Board Reports as are best 
suited to their purpose. This is giving some ac- 
count of the Pamphlet with a vengeance ! 



5% 

However odious the task, I would sift through 
the remaining absurdities and falsehoods to which 
the " Observations" 1 give publicity, could any 
farther advantage arise from their exposure ; but 
I cannot hope " extrapere aurum e stercore," 
whatever might have been effected by the skill of 
the ancients, nor by any purification within my 
reach, to educe truth from a publication substan- 
tively and intrinsically false. I must content 
myself, therefore, with the hope that the task I 
have performed will at least destroy the veil of 
prejudice and faction with which the merits of 
this case have been so artfully obscured. Sir 
Home Popham is, however, in my mind, imperi- 
ously called upon to bring forward a complete 
reply to all the malevolent charges which have 
been made against him ; while, by the production 
of every fact and document connected with this 
interesting subject, his motives and his services 
would be left to the just arbitrament of a generous 
nation. 

But as to you, ye wretched progeny of Poly- 
phemus*, I have condescended to employ a few 
minutes of leisure time to hold the mirror of 
truth before your faces, in order that you may 
see the ridiculousness of your own deformity. I 
consider ye as a band of disappointed 



-Dissentious rogues, 



That, rubbing ihe poor itch of your opinions, 
Make yourselves scabs. Who deserves greatness, 
* Deserves your hate. Your affections are 
A sick man's appetite, who desires that most 
Which would increase his evilf." 

And as you have given me a smqll specimen that 
you understand something of Latin, I will give 

* I mean, the scribblers of the "Observations," 
f Shakspeare's Coriolanus. 



53 * 

you another, which is, "Nesutor ultra crepidam" 
Ye cobblers in literature, be contented to enjoy 
your " otium sine dignitatef but if you are 
determined to use offensive weapons, for your 
credit's sake, adopt any instrument rather than 
the pen; and do not throw any more of your 
rubbish m the way of men of common perception, 
unless you chuse to scatter it gratis; for then 
you Blight possess the reflection which sometimes 
consoles the author of a damned play — that what 
is unfit for the stage becomes useful in the 
closet ! 

Before I conclude this hasty effusion, I 
shall call the attention of my readers to a subject 
that may shortly prove of great national in- 
terest. The writers of the " Observations" seem 
particularly concerned lest the public should 
suppose that they are " envious' 3 or (i jealous' 
of Sir Home's abilities. They assure us that 
they are not so, no less than three times in one 
page*; but Credat Judteus? their jealousy in- 
disputably betrays itself before they can finish 
the paragraph in which they disclaim its influence; 
and they attempt to be witty by deprecating the 
project of the Catamarans! But, in judging of 
the merit of these novel expedients, they are not 
to be regarded abstractedly, although they would 
well admit of such a test: — -the circumstances 
under which they were resorted to must also be 
taken into consideration. The par- 
simony of the late de- 
prived the country of the means to prevent the 
assemblement of the enemy's flotilla, and left us 
destitute of any adequate force to annoy it when 

collected. The present , too loyal to 

adopt either the false economy, or the procrasti- 

* " Observations," p. 4, 



54 

nation of their predecessors, came into office 
under every disadvantage, excepting that support 
which resulted from the public opinion and the 
universal suffrage of the service; and it was in the 
absolute want of every other agency for offensive 
operations that the catamarans were resorted to. — 
Of the extraordinary effect of the recent experi- 
ments with these machines the public are but 
briefly informed. I can, however, from certain 
knowledge, declare them competent to the most 
important service; and I confidently anticipate, 
that, in their future operations, they will lay 
the question of invasion at rest for ever. 

When Archimedes destroyed the fleets of 
the Romans by the effects of his burning mirror, 
he protracted the fall of Syracuse, and was justly 
hailed as the preserver of his country ; and many 
other examples in history will prove to us that 
an armament once defeated by a sudden and un- 
expected manoeuvre, can never regain sufficient 
fortitude to surmount the consequences. Hap- 
pily for Britain, her fleets have long been the ter- 
ror and the envy of her united enemies; to them 
we owe our greatness, our glory, our salvation; 
and that would be a woeful day for France in 
which she should trust to the event of a general 
engagement, on an element, where, in the face of 
the world, we reign triumphant. 

Our enemy is well aware of this, arid has 
given us sufficient proofs that he w\\\ never risk an 
action as long as his fleets can remain under the 
protection of the armies and the batteries which 
line his shores. But his incessant exertions to 
prepare a new kind of force, avowedly intend- 
ed for our destruction, and the impossibility of 
our preventing, by ordinary means, the accumula- 
tion of that force, in positions from which it might 



55 

most easily be drawn for our annoyance, ren- 
dered the suggestion of new expedients to coun- 
teract his artifices not only judicious, but highly 
laudable, and even necessary; for, as Montesquieu 
justly observes, " La vertu politique est la vir- 
tu morale, dans le sens qiCelle se dirige au bien 
general* " And what, I ask, can be a greater 
moral and political virtue, or one more calculated 
for the general good, than an attempt to effect 
our own preservation, by destroying that multi- 
tude of machines destined to convey to our 
shores the myriads of banditti, who, deluded by 
the prospect of plunder, have taken the oath of 
eternal enmity against the British name? 

There is no necessity here to discuss a topic 
which has been so often brought before the pub- 
lic, and on which there is now but one opinion— 
I mean the certainty of destruction to the invad- 
ing armament, should it be intercepted by any of 
our blockading squadrons. But those who may 
either condemn, or think lightly of the late expe- 
riments, should recollect that were there any 
hopes that the hydra-headed enemy would give 
us the chance of deciding this protracted contest 
single handed, there would be no occassion to 
resort to novel experiments, the utility of which 
would only be acknowledged by the people at large s 
if they were to be attended with complete success, 
while the smallest "failure that might happen, or 
even partial effect which they might produce, would 
of course diminish their importance in the minds 
of such as are unacquainted with their nature and 
extent On the other hand, such men as the wri- 
ters of the Observations, being admittedly better 
informed as to their object, anticipate with ap- 
prehension their ultimate success, from the dis- 
grace which such an event would reflect upon 
* Esprit des Loix. lib. iii. ch. 5, 6, 7. 



66 

their own inertness, at a period when they pos- 
sessed equal means of annoyance; and thus we 
may justly question their veracity, when we see 
them so anxious to disclaim all jealousy with re- 
gard to the Catamarans, in the management of 
which Sir Home Popham took so active a part, 
and to whose judicious exertions the success with 
which they have already been attended is, in a 
great degree, attribu table. 

From the motives I have mentioned, it might 
well be supposed, that those who had neither 
energy nor ability to suggest or undertake such 
experiments, should feel themselves unable to 
retain in secret that envenomed rancour which 
is always engendered in weak and malignant 
minds, towards men, superior in their genius, and 
amiable in their character. Juvenal tells us, 
that the Sicilians never invented a more acute 
punishment than that of envy*, and the page of 
the " Observations^ which I lately quoted, af- 
fords perhaps as complete a specimen of its ope- 
ration and effects as can be furnished by the mo- 
dern or ancient history of any country, where the 
malice of individuals is restrained by the strong 
arm of the law. The "services," at which those 
peurile writers affect to sneer, are, in my opinion, 
services of which every individual of patriotic in- 
tentions may well " be jealous;" they are the 
traits which bespeak the real character of a man 
devoted to the public interests, and though his 
calumniators assert, they "would not stoop to 
the ground to take up the brightest feather in 
his CApf," (a 'most delightful attempt at rheto- 
ric!) I think they are sufficiently degraded, to de- 

* Jnvidia Siculi non invenere tyranni tormentum majus." 
+ It would have been well it they had informed us how 
the cap of a brave man could come to the -ground, but perhaps, 
at the moment of writing this figure they had before their eyes 
their own crest-fallen predicament, 



57 

corate themselves with the feathers of celebrity, 
if it were possible for them to possess such orna- 
ments, even as the highwayman procures his cash; 
and they have very clearly informed all candid 
persons, who have perused their lucubrations, 
what kind of "sensations" have arisen in their 
breasts," without requiring a " moment's reflec- 
tion" to add to their conviction ! 

Asa patriot, I feel convinced, that a successful 
experiment against the enemy's flotilla would not 
only allay the fears of many who consider even the 
threat of invasion as a calamity; but it would 
enable us either to have a greater disposable ma- 
ritime force, by withdrawing the numerous vessels 
employed in the blockade of the enemy's harbours, 
or by diminishing the amount of our naval esta- 
blishment, produce a considerable saving in our 
national disbursements. These, however, are 
but trivial and hypothetical considerations; but 
the terror which the late experiments have pro- 
duced on the enemy's shores, though not gene- 
rally known, is, nevertheless, undeniable and ex- 
tensive*. On the authority of private informa- 
tion, which I have received from a few persons, 
at present employed in actual observation on 
board some of our cruizers— on their authority, I 
will appeal to every officer on that station, 
whether I am stating any thing more than is 
founded on fact, when I aver, that enemy, ever 

* A good idea, however, has been formed of it by the pub- 
lic, since they perused the French official account of the attack 
on the boats off Boulogne: — that account so evidently proves 
the alarm, the horror, and consternation, which have been the 
result of the attempt, that it would surely be judicious and 
praiseworthy to repeat the experiment, upon the most extensive 
scale which our means will admit of ; for, under the prevalence 
of that terror with which the enemy has been struck, the advan- 
tage might be great, beyond example: while the loss could be 
but trivial^ and even a partial failure, of no general impor- 
tance* 



68 

since the attack on their boats, outside the har- 
bour of Boulogne, have been incessantly employ- 
ed in erecting additional works on every appro- 
priate spot of their coast, from Boulogne to 
Brest, doubtless, with a view to repel any future 
attempt of a similar kind ? 

But this is not all, I have been assured by a 
gentleman, who escaped from France only a few 
days ago, that the Catamaran expedition is the 
incessant subject of conversation, throughout the 
French empire; and that it has tended more to 
intimidate the soldiery, and depress the ardour 
of the seamen, than could have been effected 
by an ordinary defeat. All the inhabitants of 
Boulogne, whose circumstances would permit 
them to remove, have actually left that town; and 
the alarms of the military have been so great, that 
it has been found necessary to replace a number 
of regiments, by others from the interior. The 
sailors openly observe, that the protection they 
contrived to afford to their vessels, at one period 
of the last war, by chaining them to the shore, 
will no longer prove effectual, since they may be 
destroyed without the possibility of prevention, 
even in their very docks. On the other hand, it 
is well known, that the troops seriously confer, as 
to the probability of their general destruction, in 
the event of their embarking for the invasion, by 
a complicated scheme of this nature carried into 
effect upon our own shores ! These are not the reve- 
ries of an ardent imagination ; the exaggerations 
of party, or interested politics — they may be re- 
lied on as facts, and as such, must prove, in the 
most forcible manner, the consequences which have 
already resulted from those singular experiments 
to which I have alluded. How great, then, must be 
our admiration of, and gratitude towards the pre- 
sent First Lord of the Admiralty, under whose au= 



59 

spices this extraordinary project was planned and 
carried into execution ; a project well worthy of a 
man, whose whole political career has afforded the 
most striking proofs of his ability as a statesman, 
and his ardour as a patriot; whose mind, capable 
of embracing the boldest conceptions, unites also 
the energy of enterprise with the discretion and 
ability necessary to successful execution. Un- 
der his congenial auspices, complacency has su- 
perseded insolence at our Board of Admiralty, 

while justice has replaced . He does 

not seek to excite respect through the agency of 
fear, or to provoke hatred, as the medium of obe- 
dience. — In short, he is in every essential quality, 
the reverse of that man, whose errors he has, 
happily for the country, been called into power to 
correct. As the result of his vigorous exertions, 
we now see our coasts protected in every direc- 
tion; our dock-yards will, in a short time, be re- 
plenished with abundance of those valuable ma- 
erials, of which, through the late parsimonious 
system, they were suffered to approximate to a 
state of exhaustion; while, to check the abuses 
which actually exist, a new Board of Inquiry has 
been instituted, whose motives, and the result of 
whose exertions may surely be as little questionable 

as those of the coadjutors of Mr. O— - 

M— -; and, whose future proceedings 

will doubtless, bear the scrutiny even of his pri- 
vate annotations and red-book ?nemoranda* ! ! 

But I am advancing beyond the limits I had 
prescribed to my remarks; and I have already 
said enough to show, that my object is neither 

* A consolatory note, quoted for the benefit of those whom 
it may concern, from the comic entertainment of II Bondo- 
eani. 

" I can crack my jokes, 
Like other great folks, 
And though fairly turn'd out, call it only resigning /" 



6c 

personality nor eulogium, but simply, a fair and 
candid investigation, with a view to public jus- 
tice, by the exposure of malevolence and detrac- 
tion. It was, what I considered, as a most illi- 
beral, and unjustifiable attack upon Sir Home 
Popham, that induced me to take up the pen; 
and, I trust, I shall be admitted to have pursued 
the subject with firmness and moderation. In- 
deed, after what has passed of late in our Courts 
of Justice, a man who discusses subjects of a po- 
litical nature, must have more than common for- 
titude, to adopt that strength of language, which 
was formerly the licence of general disquisition. 
A prosecution, for investigations of this kind, I 
understand, is still pending, and the promoters 
of it, from the casual success which has al- 
ready attended their career, may, perhaps, sup- 
pose that they have the law in their own hands — 
that they are, de-facto, the masters of the persons 
and property of those who dare to question the 
propriety of their public conduct. But, if this 
doctrine be admitted, there is an end to our boast- 
ed liberty of the press, that grand palladium of 
the rights of Britons. Public delinquency, shel- 
tered behind the imposing terrors of the law, will 
then grow bold with impunity, and the voice of 
the nation, which should restrain a vicious ad- 
ministration, or influence a weak one to the ho- 
nest discharge of its duties, can no longer be 
heard. "While the liberty of the press exists," 
says De Lolme, " there can be no fear for the li- 
berty of the subject." — Let us then prose, and 
maintain that essential blessing; while we receive, 
from the condition of France, this important 
truth, that the slavery of the press is 

THE FIRMEST SUPPORT OF CIVIL TYRANNY \ 
THE END. 



J. Swin, printer, 76, Fleet Street. 



SEQUEL 

TO THE 

BRIEF REMARKS 

ON THE 

« OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONCISE STATE- 
MENT OF FACTS;" 

BEING 

A FARTHER INVESTIGATION OF THE INQUIRY RELATIVE 
TO THE CONDUCT OF 

SIR HOME POP HAM, 

Burin* his Command in the Red Sea, in which that Proceeding 
is traced to its proper Origin. 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 

A COMPLETE COPY 

OF THE 

AMENDED REPORT 

OP THE 

NAVAL COMMISSIONERS, 

WITH 

VARIOUS COMMENTS, EXTRACTS FROM THE OFFICIAL PAPERS BEFORE 

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, AND NOTES, CRITICAL, SATYRICAL, 

AND ILLUSTRATIVE. 



By JESCHINES. 



- D4s«fci Justitiam Moniti, 

/S. VlRGIt, 

To be a dog and dead, 



Were Paradise to such a state as his 



ROWEr 



LONDON : 

racters to whom the nation looks up with anxiety and 
expectation, will endeavour to reconcile, 
rather than to inflame; will consign to oblivion 



11 ADVERTISEMENT. 

all former animosities ; and will rather think well of, than 
reprobate a zealous partisan. I address myself in the most 
serious manner to the individual who has long been the 
idol of the populace, and whose patriotism has not unfre- 
quently excited my admiration : I entreat him to give this 
important matter a due consideration, previous to its dis- 
cussion, and to prove by his powerful eloquence that he is 
the enemy of persecution in whomsoever that spirit may be 
detected. As to the polar-star of our political hemis- 
phere ; the protector of our liberties; the saviour of 
our country, I anticipate from his talents on this and 
every other occasion, the most glorious result ; and look 
forward with sanguine expectation to the period when his 
just exertions in behalf of those whose upright conduct and 
principles have drawn upon them the iron hand of oppres- 
sion and malice, will cause them to be restored to the 
favour of the public and its consequent advantage. 



A SEQUEL 



FEW BRIEF REMARKS, $c. 



u Take notice of that Man — see what falsehood, intriguing and shift- 
" ing he is content to go through, to impose upon the world a 
" momentary opinion of his integrity.— Three grains of honesty 
" would save him all that trouble ; but, alas, he has them not." 

Sterne. 



JL O hold up this Man to general condemnation, 
or rather to expose the arts to which he has 
resorted for the indulgence of personal ran- 
cour — to shew the criminal industry with which 
he has laboured to excite popular odium against 
those Officers whose virtues rendered them ob- 
jects of hatred to his employers, or whose res- 
pectability and services alarmed their jealousy, 
are the reasons which have induced me again to 
offer myself to public consideration. It is an 
admitted axiom, that it is not enough that a man 
should himself act upright : — his duty to his 
country demands that, to the extent of his pow- 
er, what is right should not only be made known, 
but made prevalent; and that what is evil should 
not only be detected, but defeated. 

Through the powerful agency of a venal press, 
the conduct of the late Board of Admiralty has, 
amongst a certain class, acquired a character fo- 
reign to its quality. Its tyranny has been deno- 
minated independence ; its oppression has been 



2 

representee! as energy and diligence ; the fabri- 
cation of charges has been received as evidence 
of its integrity ; and a partial vindictive inquisi- 
tion has been concealed under the usurped name 
of candid investigation. How these charges 
have been foiged, and how the inquiries have 
been conducted, will be shewn in the following 
pages. The majority of my readers, I am con- 
fident, will feel the same honest indignation 
which I experienced, on perusing the Navy 
Board's Amended Report. They will see with 
horror, with what facility the fences of the Con- 
stitution, which had environed innocence, can be 
beaten down ; and they must feel this obvious 
truth, that unless some striking example be 
made of the present criminal, to deter others 
from like delinquency, the reputation and for- 
tune of every man are held by most precarious 
tenure. 

It has been mentioned to me, that Mr. Tucker 
was preparing a reply to the third or amended 
Report of the Navy Board, and I have, inconse- 
quence, for some days delayed the present publi- 
cation. I entertained an idea of the possibility 
of his writing, not from an opinion that he would 
be able to advance any thing in his defence, but 
from observing the power of self-delusion, which 
often leads men, whatever be their characters 
with the rest of the world, to find reason for es- 
teeming themselves ; so that censure, contempt, 
or conviction of crimes, will fail to deprive them 
of their own favour. Upon this principle he 
may attempt his exculpation ; and I will farther 
concede, that he may have admirers; for, as Mr, 
Burke says, " there never was a mean and abject 
mind that did not admire an intrepid and dexte- 
rous In the bottom of their hearts they 



3 

believe sueh hardy miscreants to be tire only 
men qualified for great affairs." 

I hope, however, that he has done with ma- 
nufacturing public Reports; for it is now ascer- 
tained, that the charges which were brought 
against Sir Home Popham by the late Board of 
Admiralty, at a time when that Officer returned 
from a most ardent service in a distant climate, 
formed only a link of that concatenation of ca- 
lumny and persecution which was so liberally 
aspersed as a reward for toil and danger, and of 
which those received the greatest portion who 
were most entitled to the approbation and grati- 
tude of their country. The accounts relative to 
the repairs of the Romney and Sensible were 
considered as a favourable subject for the fabri- 
cation of charges, and the fulmination of reite- 
rated reports of fraud, peculation, and public rob- 
bery. But the bungling manner in which such 
unfounded charges were brought forward, added 
to the tyrannical proceedings with which they 
\vere accompanied, carried with them their own 
refutation, at least amongst such as were capable 
of reflection, and were not led away by the ima- 
ginary virtues of the late Board of Admiralty, 
propagated, as they were in every shape, by 
themselves and their parasites. Thus some ad- 
ditional means became expedient to give curren- 
cy to their fabrications ; they found that an 
impeachment begun in fraud, could only be 
maintained by similar exertions: and finding 
that their calumnies did not operate so effectually 
as they could wish, in the place where, of all 
others, they were anxious to have them dissenv 
minated,* their own characters became involved^ 

f The Senate. 



u And forcM them, as it were in spite 
* Of nature and their stars, to write." 

Butler. 

Whether their literary exertions have created 
any addition to their fame, or whether, to use the 
words of Waller, they have not fairly contributed 

" To make the wretch the mostdespis'd, 
" Where most he wishes to be priz'd," 

is a question which I shall leave to the decision 
of my impartial readers, after they have perused 
the important documents which I am about to 
lay before them. 

When commenting- in my Brief Remarks* on 
the charges contained in the second Report of the 
Navy Board, relative to Sir Home Popham, I 
considered the positive testimony of the Warrant 
Officers of the Romney, who swore, in the most 
direct terms, f that there was no improper ex- 
penditure of stores — to be farsuperior to specula- 
tive conclusions, unsupported as they were even 
by plausibility. The manner, also, in which 
these conclusions were worded, and the malig-.. 
nant triumph expressed on them, in the pamphlet, 
called "Observations" &c. strongly impressed 
me with an idea that all was not fair ; but when 
I reflected, that the Report in question had been 
drawn up by individuals, whom I had every rea- 
son to think were " honourable men," I fully ac- 
quitted them of all blame. My knowledge of 
some of the facts naturally suggested tome that 
they must have been imposed upon, and I cor- 
dially lamented that the author of the fraud was 
likely to escape that punishment which his de- 
linquency deserved. Thank Heaven my fears 

* Page 13. f Vide Papers before Parliament, p, 97. 



were unfounded — I see the culprit trembling at 
the bar of public justice — and I anticipate, with 
satisfaction, a heavy retribution. 

Sir Hone, taken, as he was, by surprise, cer- 
tainly brought forward the most complete refu- 
tation of the charges preferred against him,* but 
with this the world was unacquainted ; while the 
libeller of his character presuming upon his si- 
lence, and being himself totally ignorant of that 
moral attribute, modesty, the certain indication of 
a great mind, had the impudence, under the mask 
of patriotism, to produce an accumulation of 
falsehoods, with a view to gain over the public 
opinion to what is now proved to be the most in- 
famous and barefaced transaction that has, per- 
haps, ever occurred in the political history of 
this kingdom. But their iniquitous artifices are 
exploded ; justice has at length " burst over 
their heads, like a celestial carcass ;" and has 
ruined their characters forever. The paper which 
was laid before the House of Commons on the 4th 
instant, entitled, the " Amended Report of the 
Navy Board," has covered with lasting shame 
the faction which first caused them to proceed, 
by shewing to what a length men inclined to ty- 
rannize, even over the most eminent characters, 
can carry their encroachments on the constitu- 
tion of the country, in defiance of its established 
customs and laws. Before the production of 
this documentj could it, I will ask, be believed, 

* It was contained in the " Concise Statement of Facts" and the 
" Continuation," which this respectable Oihcer printed only for pri- 
vate circulation, amongst his particular friends, but which, I believe, 
he has since published, perhaps, in consequence of the strenuous man- 
ner in which I urged him to adopt that means of vindication; — ^it is 
needless to add, that the scribbler of the " Observations" took advan- 
tage of the se pamphlets, while in private circulation, having obtained 
them by the aid of treachery, and gained the prepossession of the pub- 
lic, by answering them in a way that served his own purposes. 



that a single member of the Navy Board 
would have undertaken (no doubt under the di- 
rection of a superior authority) to draw up fal- 
lacious STATEMENTS, to DISTORT FACTS, tO 
REFUSE EVIDENCE, and tO ALTER CALCULA- 
TIONS, made on the long established principles 
of the department to which he belonged ? Such, 
however, was the fact; but what was the inten- 
tion ? Nothing less, it is clear, than to ruin per 
fas et nefas, by every possible expedient which 
malice and iniquity coujd suggest, the good 
fame, character and fortune of an individual. 
But from the information now before the world, 
it will not require much trouble to trace these 
most scandalous proceedings to their proper 



origin. 



The main charge against Sir Home Popham 
was the total amount of the sums for the re- 
pairs of the ships under his command in the In- 
dian Seas ; and the object of the pamphlet en- 
titled " Observations," was most shamefully to 
persuade the public by an ex parte statement, 
that this respectable Officer had pocketed a con- 
siderable part of the sum ; or, to use the words 
of its author,* that the public purse had been 
thrown open to an interested individual. This 
amount was stated at 71,0981. and when Sir 
Home, indignant at the insinuations which had 
been levelled against him, detailed, in his "Con- 
cise Statement" the items of the repairs done to 
the Romney, shewing that the whole, notwith- 
standing the increased value of materials in In- 
dia, and the per- cent age always added there, 
amounted to scarcely 90001. sterling, the ob- 
server alluded to made this Commander's just 

* Vide Note in \\ Observations/ 1st Editiop,p. 17V 



remark a subject for what he conceived to be 
satire, by the most ridiculous inference, that, at 
this rate, (the usual charge made in India) the 
repairs and stores of the British Navy would 
cost 20,000,0001. per annum ; though the im- 
portant fact was before his eyes that the charges 
for L'Oiseau, Heroine, La Forte, &c. which had 
likewise been repaired at Calcutta, amounted to 
nearly one half more than the expences of the 
Romney for similar assistance. This unequivo- 
cal spirit of personality could not fail to make a 
deep impression upon those who were acquainted 
with the general conduct of the late Admiralty. 
Sir Home, overwhelmed with surprise and indig- 
nation, was the first to suspect the motives of his 
accusers, and intimated, in his " Concise State- 
ment,'" that the proceedings of the late Board 
were u oppressive and unconstitutional." But 
the party ridiculed the just feelings of this in- 
jured individual, and triumphing in their fancied 
success, made the following comment on the 
last mentioned remark : — " It was very ungra- 
cious, certainly, in presuming to inquire into 
vour conduct; but what will you say, Sir Home, 
to that VILE REPORT* of the Navy Board 
which fully justifies all these ungracious 
proceedings. We learn, in the same pamphlet, 
that at that time Sir Home's Counsel said he had 
no doubt that much undue, unworthy, and a ?nost 
unprofessional spirit of personal oppression had 
been exercised by men to whom the Crown had 
confided power, and that the aggressors must 

* Vide " Observations" p. 20. — It was, indeed, a vile report ; and 
I congratulate its framers upon their discovery of the odium with which 
they were enveloped. To be virtuous requires an effort; for, as Juve- 
nal says, we are all easily taught to imitate that which is base and de- 
praved. — " Turpihus et previs omnes sumus." — They have made this 
effort, and the thanks of their country await their fortitude and 
independence. 



feel themselves fyiirt and disappointed to thtuU 
most, upon finding their schemes of malevolence" 
injured, and their expectations disappointed." 
Instead, however, of this anticipated effect, we 
find them like hardened criminals at the mo- 
ment of suffering the extreme sentence of the 
law, in a state of desperation, boldly triumphing 
in the anxiety they had occasioned, and regard- 
less of the thunderbolt which was about to crush 
them, exulting to the last moment of their poli- 
tical existence in that system which they had so 
long digested, and at length brought to the very 
acme of moral turpitude. 

Although the primary and only object of 
these remarks was to congratulate the public, on 
the detection of that iniquitous influence which 
has covered its agents with eternal disgrace, yet 
I cannot avoid touching briefly upon the princi- 
pal points of the controversy, partly with a view 
to refresh the memory of my readers with what 
is past, and partly from motives of self-congra- 
tulaticn, from the vanity of imagining that my 
former strictures may have alarmed the respecta- 
ble individuals who framed the first Report, and 
induced them to amend it* in order to rescue 
their character from the stigma which has till 
now been attached to it. 

But whatever may have been the cause, the 
public will soon have reason to be proud of the 
result: the myrmidons of oppression, after the 
punishment which I foresee awaits them, will 
furnish an imposing lesson, that 

" Raro antecedentem scelestum 
Deseruit pede prena olaudo. 

Horace. 

Had the puerile petulance of the author of the 
" Observations" originated in, or ceased with his 



literary phillipic, it would have been compara- 
tively of little importance to the public, who are^ 
in general, tolerably able to judge of men's mo- 
tives by their actions, and who, from the puerili- 
ty of manner and of matter, the distortion of 
facts, and the prevalence of prejudices, in the 
tract alluded to, would have considered it as the 
emanating influence of a narrow mind. The most 
uninformed reader, without taking any interest 
in the controversy, must have known that duty 
in the Red Sea, and duty off Cape St. Vincent^ 
are two different things ; and that from the in- 
creased burthen of taxes, price of materials, and 
value of labour, no parallel ought to be drawn 
between 1767, the time when the Romney was 
built, and 1805. In what terms then ought we 
to stigmatize the indecent attempt to prejudice 
the public mind, by the assertion already alluded 
to,* " That the Romney cost, when built, scarce 
2£,000l."t This despicable scribbler, had he sta- 
ted the general estimate of the London builders, 
would have found that a two decked ship 
could not be built for less than 321. a ton ; and 
that the Romney's age rendered her almost in- 
competent to the duty she had to undergo; that 
although she might be turned complete from the 
carpenter's hands, such a voyage as she had per- 
formed would necessarily render her in a state to 
require very considerable repairs on her arrival 
at Calcutta : indeed, on reference to the papers 
before Parliament, we find she was almost sink- 
ing in the channel before she sailed ; but even 
this information to the public would have been 

* In page 18 of the " Observations," 1st edition. 

t Probably timber was then 21. 10s. a load, it is now 71. a load, 



w 

inconsistent with the object of the author, who 
throughout has laboured 

" To gloss the wrong, pervert the right, 
And change the face of reason qoite ;" 

and hitherto, it is to be lamented, with no smalt 
success : — his re-iterated charges gained credit 
with the populace, amongst whom, as Dryden 
most justly observes, 

" -He that lies most loud is most believed." 

His remarks on the waste of cordage, &c, 
shew the littleness of the man's mind, and that 
he is only qualified to keep a junk-shop at Wap- 
ping. — Indeed he plays so well on this article, 
that the strings of his lyre should be rope- 
yarns /* 

I cannot refrain from making a slight obser- 
vation on his comment on vinegar ; the Victual- 
ling Board being referred to for the price of that 
article, which, as I will make it appear, is by no 
means a proper medium of information. That 
Board contracts here for large supplies of every 
article for the consumption of the navy, and the 
contractor finds his account in the quantity of 
the whole of his supplies ; but if a merchant has 
a solitary article to dispose of, it is reasonable to 
suppose a larger profit is but adequate to such a 
sale. But the miserable writer of the " Obser- 
vations" pretends not to know that general adver- 
tisements produce two effects, diametrically oppo- 
site to each other. By explaining, therefore, 
these effects, I shall, perhaps, render him a seiv 
vice in his future contracts, and, at the same 
time, afford some information to the public. 
The Victualling Board, for example, in a time 

* It will be seen by the papers before Parliament that no stores 
were ever improperly expended, and that she never had more than 
was deemed necessary. 



11 

'of real or imaginary scarcity, will advertise for 
provisions, &c. which will produce competition 
amongst the few individuals who may tender, 
but it will assuredly raise the article on the 
public; and though I do not mean to contend 
that open contracts are not less liable to abuse 
than private agreements, yet I think it might 
be easily made to appear, that the numerous 
advertisements, which have of late been issued 
from that Board, have been the means of taking 
from the pockets of the nation several hundred 
thousand pounds, by the way in which the 
contracts were entered into ; a trifle, to be sure, 
in the opinion of these magnanimous econo- 
misers of the public property; but which has, in 
my mind, infinitely more injured the country 
than the 32cwt. of junk, for the Sensible, on 
which such stress is laid in p. 40 of the " Ob- 
servations. " But this pitiful writer is again to 
be told, that the system of his patrons, the " Sea 
Lords," was parsimony : that they went into of- 
fice with ample stores in all the yards ; that there 
has been a time when they were so short, that 
workmen could not proceed : and that while he 
was attending to the expenditure of junk and 
oakum, the imperious want of the most important 
supplies for the navy Avas notorious. * The arbi- 

* A proof in point. " Our dock-yards have not only been 

f deprived of those sinews of war, which the late upright and 
u provident Board of Admiralty had collected, but they have been 
iC (probably by way of "drawing closer the bonds of peace and amity") 
" made the means of supplying the arsenals of France!" 

Cobbett's Ann. Reg. vol. 3, p. 60. 

" Of the artificers discharged from the dock-yards, Captain 
" Markham observes — " Oh ! a plan is now in great forwardness for 
" the relief of those men, and will be got ready as soon as the pressure 
" of other business will admit/' 

" Query. — What was, in the mean time, to become of men with 
" their families, without any other subsistence but their daily labour? 
" They had no alternative but to starve or emigrate." 

Cobbett's Ann. Reg. vol. 3, p. 361. 

[The public will recollect that some of them have been restored ; 



n 

fcrary manner that had been adopted to displace 
persons old in the service, and to put others, crea- 
tures of the reforming gang, into tlwir places, 
is also notorious # ; and hence it is not a matter 
of surprise that any person over whom they 
could exercise their authority of investigation, 
should, instead of a fair, open, and honourable 
examination, be subjected to a narrow, partial, 
and secret inquisition : but I will, in charity, 
inform this dastardly writer, previous to his 
coming before the bar of the public, that re- 
spectable mercantile individuals are not to be 
attacked with impunity, for they have to lose 
what he never possessed — an unsullied reputa- 
tion ! and I would advise him to be a little more 
cautious of libelling their certificates ; for they 
have money to sport in legal discussions, which 
Officers probably cannot afford to risk. 

While I am on this subject, I will direct the 
attention of my readers to the great stress 
which, in page 5, of these remarkable Observa- 
tions, is laid on the five per cent, commission ; 
but it is found, in page 43, to be regular, 
A similar malicious observation is made on the 
builder's profits of 201. per cent, and with equal 
propriety. I will here beg leave to ask this 
disinterested writer what his " Sea Lords''' can 
expect the frigates now repairing in the River 
will be done for? and also, if builders and mer- 
chants incur no risk — take no trouble—- are at 
no expense— ^have no Income Tax to pay— -no 
capital employed-—" no wear and tear" of 

and that tills re-employment ha<j lately formed the subject of a Debate 
in both Houses, the object of which was to criminate the present Mi- 
nistry, for their presumption in engaging individuals whom, their pre- 
decessors had thought proper to discharge. 

* See the illustrations on this subject with respect to the dismissal 
of Mr, Marshall, and others, contained in Cobbett's I^egister 4 vol, 8, 



13 

mind, — no " expenditure of human life" for 
this 201. per cent, or this 5\. per cent, charge, 
^each of which is considered in the first in- 
stance, and with a view to a first impression on 
the public mind, so exorbitant by the rigid 
economists of the late Admiralty? — Indeed I 
think it argued very ill of this candid writer 
(before his own artifices were detected) to draw 
such uncandid inferences, especially as he con- 
fesses at last, that on further inquiry all teas 
customary \ just, $$c 8$c. 

It will readily occur to my readers that these 
plain remarks have arisen from a second and 
more leisurely perusal of the " Observations,'' in 
which several points that before seemed to me 
unworthy of refutation, or even of notice, now 
appear deserving of some exposure. The writer, 
for instance, has sneered at Sir Home's astro^ 
nomical abilities, his studies to compose the 
signals, his duty in general, and his regard for 
the welfare of his family ; but when we con- 
sider the contemptible attacks which were made 
upon this officer immediately after his return — 
attacks which any man of decent feelings would 
have been ashamed of, and which consisted of 
inuendos, whispers, and shrugs of the shoulders, 
he was undoubtedly justified in urging even 
domestic motives in his vindication. 



" For rumour is 



pipe 



Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures, 
And of so easy and so plain a stop, 
That the blind monster with uncounted heads, 
The still discordant, wav'ring multitude 
Can play upon't." 

But his revilers should be told, that whether 
our Country calls us on a Catamaran expedi- 
tion, or on a cruize off any other permanent 
ground, the honour is equal; and although 



14 

chance may throw greater glory, on the one 
than on the other, the merit of hoth may be 
alike*. To go into a Debtor and Creditor 
account with a Commanding Officer, without 
taking into consideration every thing attached 
to the service, is not only uncandid but despi- 
cable. To order private inquiries through the 
medium of inferior persons, smells strong of 
the shop : — a retail trade would be best adapted 
to geniuses of this stamp. — To put a vessel on 
the establishment of a frigate in India, for the 
service of the Red Sea, at a period when the 
country was anxious beyond all precedent for 
our sijccess in Egypt, and then to complain of 
a few thousands so necessarily expended, is as 
absurd as the ignorance of the nature and effect 
of such duty appears in those who preferred the 
charges, whose narrow minds, stimulated by 

* Indeed I often cannot help thinking that the merit of a cata- 
waran expedition is as great to its directors, as the victory of Cape St. 
Vincent is to ali who w ere concerned in it ; because this victory is some- 
times represented in so equivocal a way as to excite doubts that glory, 
like riches, is not distributed in shares, according to merit. Being an 
ardent admirer of the bravery of my countrymen, I make it a point 
to purchase every book or print in which their victories are held up 
to general attention; and, amongst others, I lately procured a most 
interesting set of prints, entitled " the four Naval Victories of the 
last War," in which every Officer is represented by a portrait. One 
of these prints is the Victory off Cape St. Vincent, the glory of 
which, and its concomitant consequences, will serve the " Sea Lord" 
as a cloak to warm and exhilarate him in his old age. — But what was 
my astonishment at not being able to find the portrait of his Lordship 
in any part of the said print. Lord Nelson,'mdeei\, was correctly drawn 
in the most prominent part of the deck, receiving the Spanish Admiral's 
sword; but all my attempts to discover the resemblance of Lord St. 
Vincent, were useless ! — Expressing my surprise to*a Naval Officer of 
Tny acquaintance, at this strange omission, he sarcastically advised 
me to consult my Annual Registers, before I stigmatised the painter; 
on doing which, I found that Lord Nelson, by disobeying the signal of 
his superior, contributed to chastise the Dons in so complete a manner, 
that they have never since ventured to meet us. And now, said my 
friend, what do you imagine would have been the result, had Lord 
Nelson implicitly obeyed the orders that were held out to him? — 

Why, really, answered I, it is impossible to say ;- 'but I will not 

send buck the print., as I at first intended * *****!!! ! ! \. f 



15 

disappointment, could not investigate the ex- 
penditure of every cwt. of junk, every yard of 
canvas, and every bundle of oakum on board 
his Majesty's ships, without throwing the most 
malevolent aspersions upon private characters. 

Before we touch upon the recantation of the 
Commissioners, let us again advert, for an in- 
stant, to the hackneyed account of the charges 
tor the repairs of the Romney, Sec. keeping in 
mind the necessary difference between the prices 
in England and India, and we may be able to 
form, by comparison, an estimate of their enor- 
mity ! The following simple facts may be im- 
plicitly relied on: — they are incontrovertible. 

The Carpenter's bill for repairing the Romney 
was 71,000 Rupees, or about 9,4001. 

It is true that the Sensible underwent re- 
pairs in India ; but I have been well informed 
that this ship, which is 950 tons burthen, was- 
in so bad a state, when taken into dock at 
Sheerness, in 1800, to be examined, and requir- 
ed so much to be done to make her sea-worthy, 
that she was turned without having the least work 
performed, except nailing some lead on her keel, 
and cutting six inches off the rudder. Her false 
keel was entirely off, and, in short, she was re- 
ported in so bad a state, that the Commissioner 
took her into dock upon his own authority, 
without waiting for the orders of the Navy- 
Board*. She was, however, sent to sea in some 
way or other, and is it then surprising that she 
should want additional repair, after encounter- 
ing a five months voyage ? 

But let us bring the attention of the public 
to the very spot where these examinations have 
been made, and from whence these principled 

' * I have been assured by a gentleman belonging to that dock-yard, 
that she was so bad, that it was at first intended to break her up. 



16 

'* Observations" have emanated, and vfe shaft 
see that under the Board of Reform, under th# 
very eye and superintendance of the Navy Of- 
fice, and the still more stern impression of the 
Commissioners of Inquiry, that facts, and strik- 
ing facts, can be adduced, to prove how enoT- 
•jrious the expence of repairing ships is in the 
River Thames, as well as in the Ganges, where 
there is no virtuous and immaculate Board to 
investigate abuses. 

The Cleopatra, of 32 guns, and 689 tons bur- 
then, was repaired at Woolwich, and cost the tri- 
jiing sum of 14,5951. without any of those useless 
articles which are " not conformable to the esta- 
blishment of the Navy?* Such, for instance, 
as the boat that was made by order of the Cap- 
tain of the Rcmney, and by which he saved the 
lives of four hundred men of the Calcutta ; the 
new haversacks, the extra sails, &c. &c. for all 
of which, as I stated in my former remarks, it 
was the intention of the late Board to make 
him pay.f 

In India, where materials that here cost one 
guinea, are from two to three, the charge of 20 

* This amounts to 211. 3s. per ton; and as the Sensible is 950 
tons, she would have cost, uuder the same superjntendance and con- 
troul, 20,0921. 10s. to which add 20 per cent, tor the Builder, and the 
5 per cent, for the Naval Officer, and the amount will be 25,3151. 10s. 
considerably more than the Sensible cost even in a foreign country. 

Another point, illustrative of economical measures ;— " The wild 
and furiows measures of the Admiralty, in their domiciliary visits to 
the dock-yards, have driven away all the shipwrights, caulkers, and 
other artisans, skilled in their business; and so far from any saving 
arising from these measures, so far from a saving of three millions, as 
the demi-official paper has asserted, expences have occurred beyond 
all former example.*" Cobbett's Ann. Reg. vol. 3, p. 60. 

f Vide " Observations on the Concise Statement*' 

* " The Mars was repaired, the estimate of which amounted to 11,0001. She was 
turned out as fit for service; but when she arrived at the Jetty Head, she was found 
to be in so imperfect a state, that she was obliged to be re-surveyed, and in conse- 
quence thereof she was ordered into dock again, Another estimate was made, and it 
appeared that 9,000l. were still wanting to put her into repair, after Mr. Tucker had 
turned her out as complete ! Lord St. Vincent saw the whole of these transactions L* 
§ee, also, my " Brief Kemarks," page 47, 



17 

per cent, is blazoned as most infamous — indeed 
as nothing less than a direct robbery of the pub- 
lic ! And what is to be regretted, is, I fear, that 
hitherto the public, not possessing the means of 
coming at the truth, have given credit to the 
charge, as well as to all other charges made by 
the late mitdand generous Board ; and believing 
them to be well founded, have thought it impos- 
sible that its members either individually, or col- 
lectively, could be guilty of any species of ma- 
lice, peculation, or fraud. But after the explosion 
which has now taken place, who will not feel for 
those individuals, and many are they in number, 
who have submitted to vile oppression, because 
they possessed not the opportunity of vindica- 
tion! — Because few except their own friends 
would rely upon their story** 

The self-elected monarch of our naval affairs 
presumed that he could do no wrong ! The para- 
sites by whom he was surrounded kept up this 
idea. A majority of unreflecting Englishmen, de- 

* My readers have, doubtless, not yet forgotten the situation of Mr„ 
Bartholomew, the Master's Mate of the Romney, whose impressment, 
by Official orders, and the tampering to which he was subjected, on 
board the Zealand, will, I hope, yet undergo a proper investigation ; 
for, according to the system hitherto adopted, it is deemed necessary 
to add insult to injury! A certain liberal minded and gallant Admiral, te- 
nacious of the hereditary dignity of n gentleman, and apprehensive that 
if suffered to be assumed by men of education and abilities, itmight be 
brought into contempt, endeavoured to persuade the House of Com- 
mons, that the above-mentioned unfortunate Officer was unworthy of 
credit, because he zvus not a gentleman. It would be curious to know 
what would be the Admiral's definition of such a character; for, with 
the manners, the language of upstarts seeras to have undergone a ma- 
terial change, by which, as Tom Shuffleton says, in the play of John 
Bull, " The vising generation are most damnably in want of a new 
dictionary." Mr. Reynolds, too, is convinced of this, for in his play 
of the Bli-nd Bargain, he has given the plan of one adapted to the pro- 
gress of modern times. I may, perhaps, help him out, by giving him 
my definition of a gentleman ! v\z. 

To be the son of — » 

To be made a Captain in the Navy. 

D 



18 

luded by his pretensions to integrity, applauded 
his proceedings • and everv man whom he en- 
vied or disliked was from that moment, conceiv- 
ed, by the multitude, to be the reverse of a gen- 
tleman. 

The injured Officer, in whose defence I take 
up my pen, was one of those individuals: he was 
envied for his science and his merits; and he had 
no sooner landed, than the minions of the fac- 
tion, shrinking in his presence at their own lit- 
tleness, began their efforts to " lower his crest," 
and " make him draw in his horns"* 

To be broke by a court-martial. 

To be restored to his rank because he is ■ • 



To be a Captain in the Navy again, and to have the Master of the 
Admiral's Ship to put his ship in order.* 
To leave his ship in the West Indies in war time. 
Not to bring home a single paper with which to pass his accounts 
for the said ship. 

To get a dispensing order to receive his pay. 

To get Sir to tell a direct falsity, in presence of the whole 

nation, and then grumble at paying his carriage up to town. 

To give Sir a principal command for his oratorical 

services. 
>» To allow no one to be stiled a gentleman, whose father was not so 

A before him, &c. ike. 

V When a person is found, who possesses these requisites, I would ad- 

w > vise cathechising him with the following queries : 

\& How came you to be broke ? 

NyJf How came you to be reinstated ? 

£ How came you to leave your ship in the West Indies, and was not 

^ this desertion ? . 

\ How came you to leave all your papers behind you ? 

^^ How came your Purser to be made Store-keeper, and for what 

^\ services ? 

^ ^ Why is a man's moral character affected by deserting from a ser- 

\ vice into which he was forced ? 
v^ Unless he can answer these questions he must not be allowed the 

W^ title of a gentleman. 

* The man who was most active in this proceeding, has often been 
heard to use the very words which I have quoted, and to triumph in the 
ultimate consequences which he anticipated would result from his at- 
tempts. The crest of Sir Home, it appears, is a stag's head with 
branching antlers. 

* Vide Cobbett and ethera 



From an'inspection of the Papers laid before 
Parliament it is evident that all the officers exa- 
mined by the newly instituted Court at Chat- 
ham, swore, in the most positive manner, that 
there never had been the smallest improper ex- 
penditure of any of the stores; and that all the 
Captains belonging to the squadron, who were 
in England, besides many other individuals of 
the highest respectability, have sent affidavits of 
the most explicit nature, all coinciding as to 
the regular conduct of the officer in question, 
of his regard for the public interest, his un- 
wearied zeal and incessant exertions for the good 
of the service, as well as for the uncommon dis- 
cipline and high state of health of his ship's 
company. Many of these documents have al- 
ready been read in the House of Commons ; 
hut the whole of the scrutiny only proves 
the expenditure of a few yards of canvas, 
a few fathoms of rope, or the bending of a new 
sail, which, according to the economising ideas 
of those who caused the inquiry, may have been 
done too soon. But such conduct in a com- 
mander is a mere matter of opinion, and con- 
fers upon him credit rather than blame, provided 
this discretion is not wantonly exercised :— 
One man may choose to wear a coat till 
it be threadbare, while another will have a 
new one every month ; and for many reasons 
I think, were the question as to which is 
the most judicious conduct put to the vote, 
the majority of the public would be in favour 
of the latter, because the former by his negli- 
gence might bring disease and destruction upon 
his whole frame. The comparison and infer- 
ence are easy and natural. But supposing we 
admit that such an expenditure of sails and 

d 2 



rigging bordered upon extravagance, is this a 
proof that the whole conduct of the officer in 
question is liable to the charge? On the con- 
trary, his great and important reforms in the 
transport service will shew, that where a saving 
of any extent could be made for the public, he 
was the first to project and carry it into exe- 
cution. If gentlemen will examine Captain 
Lowe's affidavit, the agent for transports*; they 
will find that he declares the activity and zeal 
of this officer in hastening the expedition to 
Egypt was, in the opinion of every man who 
bore witness to it, absolutely unprecedented. 
" I can safely and solemnly swear," says he, 
" that I never knew him to stoop or to con- 
desend to any thing improper; and I think he 
would have spurned at any consideration offer- 
ed from any commander, or agent of ships, em- 
ployed on that service ; that as far as I could 
observe, Sir Home Popham acted most indepen- 
dently in the duties of his command, and I have 
been assured that many of the vessels which he 
discharged belonged to his most intimate friends, 
and to whom he owed great obligations,'" &c. &c. 
It also goes on to shew, that the saving to the 
country, by his retrenchments in the transport 
service alluded to, amounted, not as I stated in 
my former Remarks, to about J 6,000/. but to the 
enormous sum of nearly thirty thousand 
pounds sterling per MONTut! Hence I 
cannot but think that the patriotic mover of 
the business against this Officer (Mr, Kin- 
naird) must have been most egregiously de- 
ceived and imposed upon with respect to the 
information he received; and when he dis- 

* Official Papers, page 121, f Vide Official Papers, pageli5t 



21 

covers the shameful error into which he has ^ 
been led, he will, like the Commissioners Qi^-^^7' 
-h^ftflty, feel it his duty to make the most com- 
plete amende honorable to the object^of his cen- 
sure. Indeed every man who has stood forward 
as an accuser on this occasion, must, I should 
think, feel awkward at his predicament. Any 
kind of recantation is certainly more creditable 
than the tacit resolve to pursue the same course, 
after the discovery that, as Otway says, he 

" Has been by fools misled, to knaves a prey." 

Before I touch upon the amended Report, I 
will advert to another circumstance of very ma- 
terial importance. It will be remembered that 
the principal charge against Sir Home is the 
" enormous expence" for the repairs of the Romney 
at Calcutta. There are few individuals who do 
not know that a certain sum is allowed by Par- 
liament for the ordinaries of the navy, calcu- 
lated for each ship, according to the number of 
hands, in the following proportions : — 



Wages - - L. 1 17"\ 

Victualling - - 1 18 f per month per man, in which is in- 
Wear and tear - 3 o( included all the pay of omcers. 
Ordnance - - 5* 

■ ^ The total amount per lunar month, 

X. 7 > for every seaman voted by Par-* 

—. j liament. 



Now let them peruse the subjoined statement, 
taken from the papers before Parliament: — 

" Navy -Office, £ An account of the expences 

19th Feb. 1805.$ of XheRomney, from the 25 th 

November, 1800, the day 

she sailed from Sheerness, to the 2d June, 1803, 

as nearly as can De ascertained at this office. 



22 



with a view of shewing how much she exceeded 
the proportion of the vote of Parliament, allow- 
ed for zvear and tear, and ordnance, or came 
within that sum, reference being had to the 
state of the ship, when she sailed, and when she 
returned, with a fair appreciation of the stores 
she returned with. 

The proportion of the vote of Parliament, under the 
heads of wear and tear, and ordnance, for the 
navy, is 3/. 5s. a man a month. 

The allowance for wear and tear, viz. 3/. a man a 
month, calculated for 343, (the complement of the 
Itomney) during the thirty-three months she was 
absent from England, amounts to 



The expences incurred on account of 
the said ship, during the same 
period, are as follow : — 

Value of the supply of stores for twelve months, 

taken out in her - 
Cost of the stores purchased, and repairs performed 

at Calcutta - - - X. 25,139 

Abating for condemned stores sold - 515 



Value of stores supplied at the Cape of Good Hope, 

in 1301 - 

Expences of refitting, after her return to England, to 

put her in a complete state for service - 



Abate the value of eight months proportion of 
stores brought home in her - 



33,957 



7,050 

24,624 

760 

3,212 



35,64:Q 
4,700 



X. 30,946 

Hence it appears, that instead of the enor- 
mous expences so infamously said to be incurred 
by the commander of this ship, under circum- 
stances of peculiar danger and difficulty, the 
whole amount is three thousand pounds 

LESS THAN WHAT IS ALLOWED BY PAR- 
LIAMENT FOR THE SAME PERIOD, IN THE 
ORDINARY ROUTINE OF THE SERVICE. With- 
out saying a word of the service in question, 



23 

and it is seen by the affidavits of the officers that 
from the extreme heat of the Red Sea, and the 
dry winds, canvass and cordage are completely 
destroyed in half the time that they would be 
in any other place. 

In page 45 of the notable " Observations" is 
the following passage, to which I likewise beg 
to call the attention of my readers. 

u We must repeat what we have before ob- 
served, that this Pamphlet " The Concise State- 
ment of Facts" would have been treated with 
silent contempt*, had it not been one of the 
many means by which the character, zeal, 
and energy of the late Admiralty Board 
were secretly traduced and misrepresented j. Sir 
Home may boast of having had his share in 
the honourable employment, and is now, ia 
spite of the fusty Report of the Navy Board, 
become a Privy Counsellor and distinguished 
leader in, the tiny war of catamarans and fire- 
works ; and has succeeded Sir Sidney Smith ia 
the command of the Antelope, no doubt with a 
xiew of having the Boulogne blockading squadron 
under his orders.*' 

* It is a lamentable circumstance for the credit of this elegant 
Pamphleteer, that he did not suffer his finer feelings to subside into 
that contempt of which he speaks, because he would thus have pre- 
vented the accumulation of contempt which he has now brought upon 
his own shoulders. In the former case he would only hare acquired 
the simple contempt which men of honour attach to malignant 
minds; but now, by the exposure of his literary talents, he has brought 
upon himself such abject contempt, that while his efforts are des- 
pised, his publication is considered as 

" A tale told by an idiot ; 

" Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.'* 

Shakspeare- 
f Poor innocent souls! how vilely they seem to have been use<j; 
and what wicked men there must be in the world to traduce so much 
virtue. — But this treatment has excited their irritability, and induced 
tbeoa to exemplify the opinion of Hudibras, that 

** Zeal's a dreadful termagant, 

* Which causes saints to tear and rant!" 



And now permit me to ask, on admitting 
that such were Sir Home's motives and ob- 
ject, do they not confer upon him infinite honour 
and credit, more than any former action of his 
life ? Is a command off Boulogne so desirable 
a thing, or a catamaran expedition an adventure 
to be courted by any man whose private interests 
are not made in every respect subordinate to his 
sense of public duty? But any command to 
which this Officer might have been appointed, 
would have equally excited the spleen of such 
inveterate enemies : — Thev accordingly soared 
no pains to propagate the report that Sir Home 
Popham was the most intimate friend of Lord 
Melville, and that the command in question 
was of the utmost importance. I have how- 
ever good reason for thinking, that there has 
never been any particular intimacy between this 
Officer and Lord Melville, except on public 
grounds, by the strong recommendation from 
every Officer with whom he bad served, and 
nothing is more probable. The warm heart 
of that nobleman always caused him to provide 
for his friends, and even those who could 
not boast that title, in the most effectual way 2 
■ — not by employment of responsibility and 
danger, without any advantage except that 
of ■ aspiring to glory," but by appointments 
to the most lucrative offices and stations. — ■ 
Now it will occur to every rational mind, 
that had Sir Home been one of the inti- 
mate friends of the First Lord of the Admi- 
ralty, or if he had had any real friend in the Ad- 
ministration, he would have been appointed — not 
to a service in which every hour of his life was 
burthened with anxiety and responsibility, but to 
a command off the Western Islands, in the track 
of the Spanish Plate Ships, where by realising a 



£5 

splendid fortune in a short space of time, as 
has been the case with others, he might, with 
less regret, submit to the forfeiture of his 
pay for defraying the expence of the repairs 
and improvements of the Romney /—As it is, 
Sir Sidney Smith, though the last in the world 
to object to an appointment of danger, may 
congratulate himself on the ease which he is 
enabled to enjoy by his supersedeas, which has 
relieved him from the most disgusting service 
in our Navy, that of watching, like a thief- 
taker, at the enemy's outlets, for any culprit 
that may attempt to run away ! While on this 
arduous and unthankful service Sir Sidney 
will declare, with tears in his eyes, that he has 
lost the bravest officers that ever ploughed the 
seas.— Talk of the toil in Egypt, " 'tis nothing 
to it."— But as this is a subject for confirmation, 
of which I can appeal to my own feelings, my 
indignation is powerfully excited by the das- 
tardly remarks which I lately quoted, and which 
no thins: but malice or cowardice could give 
birth to; while every man who has his country's 
interest at heart, and understands what service 
is, will join with me in contemning that petty- 
fogging system of warfare, which originated in 
the mistaken economy of the late Board of Ad- 
miralty, and has, for want of more substantial 
means, been of necessity continued by its suc- 
cessors. 

But I think, in the insinuation lately alluded 
to, I can discover the cloven foot of prejudice 
more clearly than might be perceived by the 
majority of my readers unacquainted with the 
character of the writer in question : his object, 
was, doubtless, in the invidious hint of the 
supersedeas, to excite on the part of Sir Sidney 

E 



26 

a coolness towards Sir Home, an artifice peculiar 
to little minds, who could not imagine that the 
noble character first mentioned, so renowned in 
the history of the late war for the important 
services he performed, would spurn at the at- 
tempt They needed to be told that Sir Sidney's 
mind is as liberal as his heart is firm, while his 
innate generosity could not fail to excite his 
sympathy for such infamous treatment of a 
brother officer, and induce the important re- 
flection, that while the Naval Administration 
remained in such hands, he might himself ex- 
pect to receive only similar tokens of gratitude. 
After the perusal of these striking facts, but 
particularly the table of expences, I will ask 
any reader to form a conception of what must 
have been the feelings of Sir Home Popham, on 
his return from the important service on which 
he was employed ? — It occurs to me that he 
could have expected nothing less than the gra- 
titude of his country, expressed by an approba- 
tion of his conduct in general ; and I do not 
know that it would have been unreasonable to 
have expected some token of remuneration, as 
a reward for the saving he had created. — But 
when to my astonishment, I found him perse- 
cuted in a manner so unequivocal and infamous, 
I, without many pretensions to penetration, 
could perceive that he was insidiously sur- 
rounded by enemies determined to work his 
destruction; and as there can be no effect with- 
out a cause, I endeavoured to sift the aifair to 
the bottom, in order to discover the origin of 
conduct so unwarranted. By repeated inquiries 
I gained the following information. Sir Home 
Popham was particularly noticed by the Admi- 
nistration of the late War, not only by that 



27 

truly independent nobleman Lord Spencer, 
(whose Administration can never be equalled, 
and will never be forgotten,) but by the Secreta- 
ries of State, not merely on account of his profes- 
sional talents, but also in consideration of his 
diplomatic abilities, and knowledge of conti- 
nental languages: he was accordingly employed 
on several occasions, but particularly in 1799, 
when he went on an important private mission 
to Russia, overland, having travelled through 
Lapland in such severe weather as to cause the 
mercury in the thermometer to freeze at noon. 
On his return his conduct and perseverance was 
highly approved by the existing Government; 
and without tracing how he was immediately 
engaged, we find him sent at the close of the 
year with a small squadron to the Red Sea, 
where he superseded Admiral Blanket. Now 
it happened that this Admiral, who died soon 
after the arrival of Sir Home, was the parti- 
cular friend of several of the Members of the 
late Naval Government, who certainly counte- 
nanced, at least, the active persecution of this 
Officer; and as he went out with greater powers 
than ever that Admiral enjoyed, together with 
the circumstance of his having received those 
powers from the political opponents of the men 
in question, it resulted that on their attainment 
of authority, losing sight of those principles 
which govern all liberal minds, they adopted 
the maxim of Drawcansir, 

" I can because I dare, ;"* 

* Captain Markham, in the Parliamentary Reports, is said to have 
used the following remarkable expression, viz, " TJiat the Admiralty 
Board never assigned' any reasons for what they did, although the ?£4~ 
sonsnere knoyrn to fJte.mse.lves !!!" 

Vide CoBBFTi'g Ann. Reg. vol, 3, pas;e 359, 

E 2 



and determined to attempt the ruin of a man 
whose only claim to the appointment he had 
received was that of his long-established zeal, 
perseverance, and exertions.* 

In the system that was resolved upon, Lord 
St. Vincent could not but appear as the head, 
the primum mobile, the direct eur en chef ! — ■ 
But I have some slight reason to believe, from 
what has now transpired, that this nobleman 
was only so ostensibly ; that, engrossed by the 
most important affairs of state, he had no op- 
portunity of knowing the extent of that perse- 
cution begun and carried on by men whom he 
had raised from the meanest 'condition in life; 
and it is possible, that being once persuaded 
their attempts were to detect corruption, he 
may have given his sanction to their conduct, 
without investigating the means they employ- 
ed "\, I am confident that an opinion similar to 
my own must prevail with every gentleman who 
has looked into the voluminous papers that have 
h>een laid before the House ; and I firmly hope, 
that, on the approaching discussion they will 
express, in the strongest possible manner, the 
detestation in which they hold the real authors 
of such glaring iniquity. 

It is of no small importance that the public 
should know under what influence the Second 

* The treatment which Sir Home has received will, I hope, be a 
warning to all Naval Officers never to deviate from the direct line of 
their profession. To his diplomatic abilities may fairly be attributed 
all that concatenation of spleen, envv, and malice, with which he has 
been environed, , 

f A person in an official situation lately informed me that when 
Lord St. Vincent, on his return to town, saw" the copy of a most in- 
decent Letter that had been sent to Sir Home Popham, and which is 
given in the Papers, he expressed his indignation at it, and desired it 
might be immediately altered, but it was too late — the Letter had been, 
seat from the Admiralty a few hours before. 



29 

Report with respect to the Romney was formed, 
and although the Third, or amended Reporf 
throws much light on this point, I will en- 
deavour to illusstrate it still further. 

The early proceedings of the Commissioners 
not proving satisfactory to those who employed 
them, they were incessantly attacked with let- 
ters from the Admiralty directing their atten- 
tion to different points, with a view to their 
bringing forward something that would bear 
the semblance of a charge. They were accord- 
ingly ordered " to examine from any returns of 
stores supposed to be on board the Romney, 
Sec. how far it was necessary that the additional 
stores purchased at Calcutta should be obtained,'* 
to which in their Report*, dated Oct. 18, 1802, 
they answer that " they had employed the ut- 
most diligence in investigating the several ac- 
counts, and as a check thereto, had referred the 
whole to the respective officers at Deptford 
Yard." They ihen observe 

" That taking into due consideration the result 
of ourpwn inspection of the Accounts, and the 
Report we have received upon the subject from 
the Deptford Officers, also the circumstances of 
the Charges in the Bills being attested, as the 
then market-price at Calcutta, by two resident 
merchants at that place, of known credit and 
respectability, ice do not see any reason to con- 

* The reader should observe that this Report was made at a time 
when tiie Commissioners of the Navy were unbiassed, and uninflamed 
by prejudice or party, and was the result of extreme deliberation; 
tor although it was repeatedly called for, they requested more time to 
make it proper ; and they called to their assistance, as is usual, the 
Dock- Yard Officers of Deptford. — After this Report had been made 
some months, Mr, Tucker was appointed a Commissioner, and it 
appears, framed a Second Report, which is the one that has been pub- 
lished in the pamphlet entitled " Observations on the Concise State* 
t of facts," 



$6 

dude otherwise, than that the Repairs of the 
Ships have been executed, and the Naval Stores 
procured upon the best obtainable terms." 

From this it was evident that very different 
measures most be resorted to before any Charges 
could be made out, and accordingly we find the 
Officers of the Romney rigidly examined upon 
oath, with a view as I have shewn in my 
former Remarks, and in the present tract, to 
extort from them something like criminality 
against their former commander.— The answers 
of these Officers were a complete negative to 
every question that went to improper expendi- 
ture, &c.— On the contrary, they all concurred 
In giving their Captain the highest possible cha- 
racter. The Boatswain, who was detained on 
board the Zealand at the Nore, and threatened 
with the loss of his pay, was then tampered with 
about the cable, and he acknowledged that after 
it was cut in Balasore Roads, it was made into 
oakum, and every bit of it used for caulking ; 
to which he still asserts he is ready to make his 
affidavit # . About this time Mr. Benjamin 
Tucker, who has since made so conspicuous a 
figure, was somehow or other removed from the 
Committee of Correspondence to the Committee 
of Stores, for the obvious purpose of investi- 
gating, accounts of stores. Accordingly on 
receipt of the Letter from Capt. Mitchell, with 
the above deposition of the Boatswain, the fol- 
lowing most remarkable answer, signed by the 
said Mr. Tucker, was returned. 



* My readers will recollect, tliat in the " Brief Remarks/* I quoted 
the Boatswain's recantation, in which he admitted that he only said it 
zvas cut up, fyc. to avoid losing his pay,, with which he was threatened 



31 

SIR, Navy-Office, Dec 31, 1805. 

We have received your letter containing the 
account given by boatswain of the Romney, of 
the manner in which the cable cut on board that 
ship was disposed of, and desire YOU WILL 
SERIOUSLY EXHORT HIM to state if any 
other circumstances of that nature took place 
with respect to the expenditure of any other de- 
scription of stores, as the effects of the present 
state of his account cannot fail of being 
attended with the most serious conse- 
quences TO HIM, &C. &C. 

As this serious letter is particularly alkided 
to in the amended report, I shall merely request 
mv readers to recollect that at this time the 
boatswain was kept, a prisoner, on board the 
Zealaud, for the express purpose of forcing him 
to come forward as a witness against his Captain. 
His examination was not sufficient, for on this 
he declared, that he never knew of any impro- 
per expenditure of stores, &c. But as some 
charge was, at all events, to be produced, it be- 
came necessary, seriously to exhort kim, or, m 
other words, to threaten him with all the ter- 
rors of hell and damnation ; or what perhaps 
might have greater effect upon the mind of a 
blunt and ignorant seaman, to remind him 
of the serious consequences which would re- 
sult to hi in from not receiving his pay > un 
less he criminated his Captain; namely, that 
by not being able to pay his debts, he would be 
transferred from a prison ship at the Nore to 
the custody of the keeper of the county jail of 
Kent ! # 

* I should very much like to hear the candid opinion of the high 
legal Characters, on £his patriotic and rtew constitutional m 
exhorting evidences, and threatening them in failure of the 
expected, by exhortation. — Th'is is, in plain terms, a v. 
eharge. 



Such was the system adopted till the affair 
caught the attention of Parliament, and induced 
an investigation, which, bv ultimately fixing 
the criminality upon its proper objects, will 
vindicate the characters of two officers, one of 
whom* had nearly fallen a sacrifice to the 
schemes of a most insidious and unprincipled 
enemy ; and the otherf by the stigma which 
attached to him for giving his sanction to such 
an infamous project, was on the point of losing 
a portion of that credit which he had acquired 
by his exposure of real and flagrant abuses. 
Let us then hope that he will, like the Com- 
missioners, discard the culprit who has brought 
disgrace upon his name, and honourably ac- 
knowledge the artifices to which he has been 
subjected — artifices which have hitherto suc- 
ceeded in making him advance his most terrible 
enemies, and persecute his most disinterested 
friends, whose only wish was to see him bear, 
unsullied to his grave, the laurels which he had 
acquired by his integrity and valour. 

The following is the Amended Report of 
the Commissioners, who signed the charges 
brought against Sir Home, to which I have 
subjoined such simple comments as the pas- 
sages appeared to me to deserve. 

This important document begins with assign- 
ing the reasons of the Board for the revision of 
their former Report ; but, for my own part,, 
although I am inclined to think that these gen* 
tlemen have shewn too great an aptitude to ac- 
commodate their Reports to the wishes of their 
superiors, without always exercising that honest 
independence of sentiment which they owed to 
the subject and to themselves ; yet I sincerely 

/ * Sir Home Pophanu f Earl St. Vincent* 



33 

honour the candour with which, on the present 
occasion, they have avowed their previous er- 
rors ; and I sympathise in their distress at hav- 
ing heen made the dupes of hase and insidious 
artifice*. The Report runs thus : 

SIR, Navy Office, April 1, 1805. 

'* We have received your letter of the 27th of 
February, enclosing one from Sir Home Popham, 
dated the i5th of the same month, on the sub- 
ject of our Report of the 20th of February, 
1804, relative to the expences of the Squadron 
under his command ; and communicating the 
directions of the Right Honourable the Lords 
Commissioners of the Admiralty, that we should 
state to you, for their Lordship's information, 
" Why, as represented by Sir Home Popham, we 
" have departed from the usual practice, by 
" founding our Report so much upon such vague 
" authority as Officers' Journals, and not resort- 
" ing generally to the Log of the Ship, which is 
il considered the only authentic document, and 
1 which, in many cases of trifling inaccuracy, 
" has been cited in our Report." 

" In answer thereto, we request you will in- 
form their Lordships, that the Report appears to 

* Without subscribing to the doctrine of passive obedience, I 
really cannot help considering these Commissioners as a most accom- 
modating body of gentlemen. In their second Report they conclude 
with the candid and extraordinary information, that " they have 
drawn it up without calling upon Sir Home Popham, agreeably to 
their usual mode for any explanations; conceiving it to be their 
Lordships' intention (meaning Lord St. Vincent's board,) that they 
should proceed in that manner." i. e. that tkey should bring forward 
charges against him without allowing him to explain them. But the 
said Board having passed away, " Like the baseless fabric of a 
vision," /caving the Commissioners behind, they conceive it to be the 
intentions of the present Board that they should proceed in a manner 
entirely different; or in other words, that no charges should be 
brought forward but such as are incontrovertible, which at length 
appear to be none at all ! — They, therefore, hasten to recant their 
former errors, and await fresh instructions. Hence & fourth Report 
will, perhaps, be deemed necessary, to inform the public which of 
the three first is to be relied on ! F 



be in general founded on the stated amount of 
the Boatswain, on the Ships' Log, on the Cap- 
tain's Journals, and on other documents in this 
Office, conformably to directions received from 
their Lordships, at different times, on this sub- 
ject, as are hereinafter particularized. We must, 
however, admit, that in a document made out 
by the Portsmouth Officers, which is referred to 
in the Report, citations are made of the journal 
of the First Lieutenant, which, however, tend 
merely to shew, that it is silent on some occur- 
rences which are mentioned in the Log-book. 

" Although their Lordships have called our 
attention to this single passage of Sir Home Pop- 
ham's letter above-mentioned, there are other 
parts of it, which, together with the correspon- 
dence that has taken place between him and 
ourselves, on the subject of the Report, demand 
our serious consideration ; and, as the Report of 
the 20th of February, 1 804, is now before the 
Legislature, and from the light which has been 
thrown upon it, in consequence of the examina- 
tion we have entered into, on some parts relating 
to circumstances pointed out by Sir Home Pop- 
ham, we have had much reason to apprehend, 
that the Report is in many instances inaccurate ; 
it is, therefore, incumbent upon us to lay before 
their Lordships a statement of such errors as have 
appeared, and to inform them of the manner in 
which the Report has been framed. 

" The Orders above alluded to, on which the 
Report is founded, are as following : viz. 

" To report what sums of money were' 
" drawn from Bengal, on account of the 
" ships under the command of Sir Home |>>*g 
" Popham, and for what purpose those 
" sums appear to have been drawn, giVingy 






35 

" their Lordships all the information onw . 
" the suhject, which the documents in this >^I 
" Office may enahle us to afford. " 3^^ 

" To state the irregularities which ap-N ^ . 
" pear upon the Muster Books of thev^l 
V Romney." $£* 

" To state every circumstance respect-1 
" ing the repair of the Romney and Sensi- 
" ble, and the expenditure and supply of 
" stores on board those ships, that have 
" come to our knowledge, during the inves- 
" tigation of the Surveyor of the Navy, 
" and the Commissioner and other Officers 
" at Chatham, or from any other enquiries 
" or examinations that have taken place, in 
'" consequence of their Lordship's direc- 
" tions of the ]6th of May, and 18th of 
" June, for entering upon the investigation 
" at Chatham." 

" We beg leave to remark, that these are spe- 
cific orders, having no relation to that official 
examination of the accounts of the Warrant Of- 
ficers of the Romney, and those of the Naval 
Storekeeper at Calcutta, which they would have 
undergone in the usual course of business. 

" As specific orders they were as specifically 
to be obeyed ; and they were carried into exe- 
cution ultimately upon the principle laid down 
by their Lordships' orders, conveyed in Sir 
Evan Nepean's letter to us, of the 11th of Au- 
gust, 1 803, for dividing the duties between the 
several Members of this Board, individually; 
under, which order the examination of Warrant 
Officers' Accounts was allotted to the junior 
Members of the Committee of Stores. 

Commissioner Tucker, who was removed to 
this Committee, from the Committee of Corres- 



36 

pondence, by an order from the Admiralty, of 
the 3d September, 1803, after directions had been 
issued from the latter Committee to the Yard Of- 
ficers, for preparing some materials necessary for 
the investigation, undertook the examination, to 
a certain, .extent, of Mr. Louis's (the Naval 
Storekeeper's) vouchers for the purchase and 
sale of stores, and repairs of the ships at Calcut- 
ta, the inspection of the journals, the statements 
of the Boatswain's and Carpenter's accounts, 
and the log book." 

It thus appears that the examination of the 
accounts of the Romney was ordered on the 16th 
July; but lest it should become matter of general 
inquiry and discussion at the Board, the duties 
of the office were divided amongst the several 
members: — the investigation in question was al- 
lotted to a particular department, and immedi- 
ately after Mr. Tucker was removed to it. None,. 
I think, can be so sceptical as to doubt, that this 
division of duties was intended, (as it necessarily 
happened,) to exclude the Board at large from 
any share or interference in this inquiry, and that 
Mr. Tucker's subsequent removal was in order to 
give a character to the report, which they could 
not hope would result from fair and unprejudiced 
investigation, as has already been proved by the 
first report of the Commissioners already al- 
luded to. 

" Their Lordships will please to observe, that 
the order of the 11th August, 1803, directs the 
" allotting to each Member of the Committee a 
proportionate and proper part of the duties to 
be placed under his immediate superintendance 
and responsibility, as suggested by the Com- 
missioners of Naval Enquiry, in the 188th page 
of their Third Report." Upon the principle of 



37 

this order, the investigation, so far as it related 
to the Committee of Stores, was performed. It 
was conducted by Mr. Tucker, the junior Mem- 
ber of the Committee, assisted by one of the 
Clerks in the Office for Stores. The statements 
were drawn up by this Clerk, underhis direction, 
except No. 8, 9, 10, and 13, which were prepar- 
ed wholly by the Yard Officers and Mr. Tucker, 
the observations and inferences were also made 
by the latter gentlemen; and neither the first 
nor the second Member, nor the Secretary of the 
Committee of Stores, had any concern in framing 
the Report of that Committee. 

" It may be stated, that the Report lay some 
time upon the table, after Mr. Tucker was re- 
moved from the Navy Board to be the Second 
Secretary of the Admiralty, in January 1 804, 
and that the Board could, without any objec- 
tion on his part, have made any alterations in his 
Report they might have thought proper ; that was 
not practicable with respect to the facts alleclg- 
ed in his Report, without an entire revision of 
it, which would have taken up as many months 
as had already been employed upon it, and which 
could not have occurred to be necessary. 

" Certain inaccuracies have, however, been 
discovered in it, in consequence of the examina- 
tion that has taken place, as before mentioned, 
which we consider it to be our duty to submit 
to their Lordship's consideration, with our ob- 
servations thereon." 

With respect to the direction of the Clerks by 
Mr. Tucker alone, why, I will ask, was this de- 
viation made from the established usage of the 
Office? Does it not betray guilt? If the state- 
ment were honest, why steal it from discussion? 
Why were not the other Members, or the Secre- 



3% 

tary of the Committee consulted on the occa- 
sion ? It is the nature of foul deeds to delight 
in darkness. " Alitur mtium vivitque t agendo." 
At any rate Mr. Tucker seems to have thought 
that if he could smuggle his charges into birth, 
the influence of his patron would have fostered 
the illegitimate abortion, and have prevented 
any investigation of the materials of which it 
was composed. He was happily mistaken as to 
the duration of his power: had he been less san- 
guine, it is probable that his fears might have 
communicated to his Report a greater degree of 
honesty. 

I am far from admitting the sufficiency of the 
reasons adduced by the Navy Board for their 
concurrence in the Report produced under such 
unusual circumstances : some parts they thought 
objectionable. — they knew Mr. Tucker to be a 
rancorous partisan — they knew that the charac- 
ter of an honourable man was involved in the 
Report, and it would have been decent in them 
to have made their award with caution. They 
talk of confidence in Mr. Tucker, but they neg- 
lect to say what act of his whole life warranted 
such a flagrant relaxation of prudence. I would 
ask them if, during the period he was amongst 
them, they did not regard him with distrust and 
caution? It is to be lamented that they aban- 
doned that guardian instinct, and subjected them- 
selves to commiseration for having been so de- 
ceived. 

■" Sir Home Popham having, by his letter of 
the 1 3th of February, 1805, desired an explana- 
tion of that part of our Report; respecting the loss 
pf an anchor, on the 11th of August, 1801, re- 
marking that the expression in the report relative 
to this anchor is " enigmatical and equivocal, " 



39 

we have informed him, by our letter of the 15th 
of February, that though, by the Boatswain s 
stated account, there appears to be a deficiency 
of one bower anchor, yet it is accounted for by 
the ship's log, under* date the 10th June, 1801, 
&c. as had been pointed out by Sir Home ; and 
the official statement which was transmitted to 
him, with our before-mentioned letter, shewed, 
that upon allowing the Boatswain credit for this 
anchor, the amount of the bower anchor is com- 
pletely balanced ; and it has since been discover- 
ed, fliatthe Boatswain has accounted for the an- 
chor (with which he was charged as deficient) 
in his expence book, under date of June 11, 
1801, where it is regularly inserted, that two 
flukes were lost off the bower anchor in shifting: 
births, though the Chatham Officers, in their 
statement of the Boatswain's account, have taken 
no notice of it ; and it must have escaped Mi\ 
Tucker also in his examination of the log-book, 
which he inspected very narrowly, and to which 
he has referred in many other instances." 

Escaped Mr. Tucker ! — So has every other ob- 
ject in these volumnious accounts, in contraven- 
tion of the statement he has so industriously 
laboured to establish. 

" There is, besides, another error in the Re- 
port relative to this anchor, wherein it states, 
that she (the Romney) had only one anchor of 
50c.wt. on board, when she sailed for " India, 
which was afterwards returned at Chatham," 
The fact is, that she never had an anchor of that 
specific weight on board ; the anchor returned 
must have been the one, that was found on board 
upon survey, on the 14th of February, 1802, viz, 
an anchor of 50cwt. 2qrs. However trifling it 



40 

may appear to notice such a circumstance, it is 
very material, as it is entirely upon this confu- 
sion of weights that the insinuation of the defi- 
ciency of an anchor is founded. 

" It may be proper here to observe, that three 
separate sets of Officers, in their respective Dock 
Yards, are employed to frame statements on 
which the Report has in part been founded ; that 
the Officers of Chatham Yard, who Avere direct- 
ed to make a statement of the Boatswain's 
account, possessed not the means of correcting 
any inaccuracy or omission therein by the log 
book ; and that although the Officers of Ports- 
mouth Yard, who were required to compare the 
Boatswain's and Carpenter's expence books with 
the log and journals, pointed out in their remarks 
various omissions of articles in the Boatswain's 
expence book, noticed in the log ;-— no additional 
credit has been given to the Boatswain for the 
same." 

This want of candour and justice is perfectly 
consistent — his policy was to represent the Boat- 
swain as a criminal defaulter, with a view to 
invalidate, in the public opinion, his testimony 
in favour of his Captain,* or, doubtless, as I have 
already shewn, to operate upon the fears of the 
man, by the magnitude of the claim against 
him ; and thus to make the justice to which he 
was entitled the condition of his subserviency to 
his schemes. 

" It was stated in their Report, with regard 
to an entry in the log book, relative to upsetting 

* But he did not do this openly and avowedly till all his arts and 
schemes failed to make his Boatswain a convert to his designs — ever* 
his serious exhortations, through the medium of the Captain of the 
Zealand. 



41 

the bitts, in Calcutta Pciver, " that there is no 
" expence of any kind made by the Carj.e iter 
" on account of repairing the bitts, nor do they 
" appear to have been repaired by the log, nci- 
" ther does it appear to have been done by the 
" Merchant Builders at Calcutta:" whereas we 
find that in the bill of those Merchant Builders, 
a charge is actually made for both iron work and 
sissoo timber for bitts; and with regard to what 
the Report states, relative to the "desired in- 
formation" not having been obtained from the 
Carpenter, respecting the bitts, nor any " ex- 
planation from the Boatswain on this subject," 
it appears upon reference to the examination of 
the Boatswain, by Captain Mitchell, of the Zea- 
land, that the " bitts were upset, but he cannot 
say when or where repaired ;" but refers for in- 
formation on this head to the Carpenter of the 
Ronmey, who, in his letter on the subject, states, 
that at the time the bitts were upset, he was 
confined to his cot by illness, and is not able to 
reply to particulars, knowing only by report that 
such an accident happened ; so that although- 
the Boatswain and Carpenter did not give the 
" desired information" they gave sufficient to 
shew that the bitts were upset, as entered regu- 
larly in the log; an entry upon which the obser* 
vation in the Report appears to be calculated tg 
throw a doubt." 

Here is another instance of convenient over- 
sight. Can it be supposed that during a patient 
and active examination of many months, any 
parts of these papers were unobserved by Mr. 
Tucker ? Plad the expence for this sissoo timber, 
or iron work, admitted of being contorted into 

Q 



42 

a charge of extravagance, would it have escaped 
liis scrutiny and censure r But in this, as in every 
other instance, Mr. Tucker lias passed over 
those facts which he was unable to pervert into 
objects of crimination, or which would endanger 
his stupendous mass of misrepresentation. 

" Sir Home Popham having called our atten- 
tion to the circumstances stated in the Report, 
relative to a debt for stores, on a statement of 
the Boatswain's account of 5,742l. 8s. 4d. we 
have investigated this matter, together with the 
other circumstances connected with it, as set 
forth in the same paragraph of the Report, in 
the best manner that our present means will en- 
able us to do. 

It is there represented, that "there was ex- 
pended between the period of her (the Rom- 
riey's) outfit: viz. from the 8th of December, 
1800, to the 25th of May, 1801, an excess of 
stores above the proportion for twelve months, 
as stated in No. 8 ; and the Boatswain appears 
to have expended, before he received any sup- 
ply of these articles, more than were in his. 
charge, as stated in No. 9, and reference is had 
to No. 10, to shew the very great quantity of 
rope expended on account of seizing, tailing and 
strapping, which in the space of months, has 
amounted to no less than 3,600 fathoms of va- 
rious sizes. " Nevertheless/' the Report ob- 
serves, " if the whole of these enormous and ex- 
" traordinary expences are allowed, there will 
" remain a debt for stores, sfn ^statement made 
" of the Boatswain's account, between the 8th 
" of July, 1800, and the 14th of February,, 
" 1802, of no less a sum than 5,?4£tf 8s. 4 d. 



43 

*■* of which the Boatswain cari give no -further 
" account" 

" On the contents of this passage, we beg leave 
to offer some remarks to their Lordship's consi- 
deration. 

" No. 8 shews in respectof canvas and cordage, 
the two articles of most importance in the ac- 
count, the number ofyards of canvas, of particu- 
lar sorts, and fathoms of rope, of certain sizes, 
expended between the 2 8th of December, 1800, 
and the 26th of May, 1801, beyond a twelwe- 
months proportion, but takes no notice of the 
quantity of the other sorts and sizes of these ar- 
ticles expended, less than that proportion in the 
same time ; and leaving out of the consideration 
the question, whether the quantity of stores put 
on board a ship for a twelvemonths' supply, is, or 
is not an adequate allowance, under all circum- 
stances and casualties, the quantity stated in the 
account to be expended, is erroneous. 

" No. 9 is meant to shew what the Report 
states, that certain articles are made expended by 
the Boatswain, more than were in his charge; 
and this is made out by a long process, shewing 
the remains on certain fixed days ; viz. Decem- 
ber 8, 1800, and the 26th of May, lk>l, and the 
expenditure of each article between that and 
other particular periods, which it is here unne- 
cessary to specify. 

" A comparative statement of this account, 
with a corrected one made out from the same 
documents at this office, is transmitted herewith, 
from which it will appear that the former is very 
incorrect, and that the articles stated to be ex- 
pended are very considerably reduced in quanti- 



m 

ty ; it Will likewise be evident, that the Over ex- 
penditure of the remaining few articles may fairly 
be attributed to a casual error, either, in the 
date of the expenditure of the canvas, a consi- 
derable supply of which was received two days 
afterwards, or to the issuing of one sized rope for 
another nearly corresponding; circumstances 
which occur in almost every Boatswain's account, 
but which do not affect a general statement of 
his receipts and issues, in settling which the de- 
ficiency of one article would be placed against 
the excess of another nearly similar. 

" It is an extraordinary circumstance, that in 
the framing of this account (No. 9) there is in- 
cluded in the line of " articles expended between 
the 26*th of May, and the time of the next sup- 
ply," the quantity of some articles expended on 
the day of that supply, without taking into cal- 
culation, as a set-off, the quantities received on 
that day, though it is evident, that the articles 
issued were of those which were received onboard 
on the same day. In short, we can scarcely 
think, that there ever were such extraordinary 
means resorted to> to produce a particular effect, 
as have been in the framing of this most over* 
strained account!!! No. 10 is referred to, to shew 
that in fourteen months the rope expended in 
seizing, tailing and strapping " has amounted td 
no less than 3,600 fathoms of various sizes; and 
it is immediately added, " nevertheless, if the 
whole of these enormous and extraordinary ex- 
pences are allowed, there will remain, &c. &c." 

" We do not know on what ground Mr. Tueker 
determined that these eocpences were ENoiiAfous 
an-c EXTfiAOKDiNAHYy as it does not appear 



45 

to what the epithets allude, whether to the ex- 
penditure of the rope for seizing, &c. or to the 
expenditure, as stated relative to the accounts, 
No. 8, or to both of them together, (No, 9 hav- 
ing nothing to do with the question ; or, if it he 
taken into the calculation, the greater part of it 
is reckoned twice over;) for it is impossible to 
form any proper judgment of the necessity of the 
expenditure, which may have taken place with- 
out taking into consideration the circumstances 
and casualties to which the ship had been sub- 
ject during the service upon which she had been 
employed. 

" We now request to make some observations 
upon the Boatswain's debt for deficient stores 
before mentioned, which is stated at no less 
a sum than 5,742/. 8s. 4d. This assertion is 
founded upon a statement framed by the Chat- 
ham Officers of the Boatswain's deficiencies, with 
their valuation thereof, and altered in respect of 
prices, in this office, by the direction of Mr. 
Tucker. When the deficiency appeared so 
great, as in the present case, it would have 
been natural to conclude it to have been owing 
to some extraordinary oversight, and but just, 
before a Report of it was made in such very 
strong terms, to have endeavoured to elucidate 
it by every possible means, which we had no 
reason to suppose had not been done. On the 
contrary, the utmost advantage was taken of it, 
and it is brought forward as a prominent charge, 
notwithstanding the very stated account itself 
afforded reason to conclude that cables, and 
other large articles of stores were sent on shore 
at Sheerness, in October and November 1800, 
and that for some of them at least (and those of 



4<3 

the greatest value and importance) the Boatswain 
had not been allowed credit. 

" Mr. Tucker had also another document be- 
fore him at the same time, viz. Mr. Louis's ac- 
count of sales, which ought to have led to an 
investigation, to ascertain whether the Boat- 
swain had had credit for the large quantity of 
stores which appeared thereby to have been land- 
ed at Calcutta, among which is certainly a bower 
cable, which has been charged to him as defi- 
cient, from his not having produced a receipt for 
it; neither of these sources of information, how- 
ever, were resorted to for the purpose of elucida- 
tion, although the latter was made use of to 
shew, that a few condemned hammocks were 
sold for a very inconsiderable sum : on the con- 
trary, it appears, that Mr. Tucker was anx- 
ious to avoid explanation; for, in a 
monthly account from the Clerk of the Sur- 
vey's Office, at Chatham, of the progress 
in the examination of Warrant Officer's ac- 
counts, a notation is made, that, in con- 
sequence of a great deficiency of cables, an- 
chors, and cordage, the Boatswain " had been 
" written to," and on this " document there is 
" a minute, in Mr. Tuckers hand-writing, in 
" these words : — " Directthe clerk of the Survey, 
" to make a statement of the Boatswain of the 
" Bomney's account, and send it to us without 
" waiting for the Boatswains explanation, as the 
" ship is on foreign service;'* and an order was 
accordingly sent to the Clerk of the Survey to 
this effect. 

" We have only to remark on this transac- 
tion, that the Boatswain was at this very time 



47 

no further off than on board the Zealand, receiv- 
ing ship at the-Nore." 

Can Mr. Tucker's motives here admit of any- 
other construction, than that, conscious of the 
falsehood he had fabricated, he dreaded expla- 
nation ?— Did he not know that he had sent Mr. 
Bartholomew on board the Zealand? — Or did he 
not know that at the time he evasively stated the 
Boatswain to be on a foreign station, that he was 
then subject to his inquisition at the Nore ? — 
*' Fallacia alia, aliam trudit? says Terence, and 
so Mr. Tucker has doubtless found it ; one 
falsehood created occasion for another, and must 
have embarrassed a man of less ingenuity and 
independence of moral principles than this con- 
scientious Commissioner. 

" From the circumstances before stated, there 
is reason to conclude, that the Boatswain has 
omitted to take receipts for many of the other 
stores landed at Calcutta and elsewhere, or that 
he has lost them, he having been sick thirteen 
months. 

" As the alledged deficiency of the Boat- 
swain's stores is estimated at no less a sum than 
than 5,7421. 8s. 4d. of which 52321. 8s. are cal- 
culated at India prices, and 5091. 19s. 9d- at 
English prices, we have been led to enquire of. 
the Clerk, who altered the deficiencies, upon 
what principle he did it, and by whose orders so 
novel a mode of calculating their value was re- 
sorted to, as it appears by the official document 
of the Chatham Officers, that they had estimated 
the then supposed deficiency agreeably to usage at 
the English prices, amounting to 2,437k 16s. 7d. 
The Clerk in answer has stated, that he was direct- 
ed by Mr. Tucker to alter the officer's 



48 

VALUATION FROM " THE EffG£J8H fRlttS 
r * AT WHICH THEY RATED THEM TO THE 

" prices paid in indta ;" that he, how- 
ever, felt it his duty to suggest, that it would 
he more equitable to value some of them 
at English prices, and the principle upon which 
the valuation was made, is this: where it could 
be clearly defined that any quantity of any sper 
cies of stores, unaccounted for, was not purchased 
at Calcutta, only the quantity purchased there is 
valued at Calcutta prices, and the remaining 
quantities of the said articles at English prices ; 
hut if it appeared that the full quantity of the 
deficiency had been purchased at Calcutta, al- 
though even a greater quantity of this samespe* 
cies had been supplied in England, in that case 
the whole deficiency is charged at the Calcutta 
prices, without consideration of the circumstan- 
ces, that it was as likely the deficiency might 
arise from the one as from the other. 

" To enable their Lordships to judge of the 
propriety of this new mode of valuation, or indeed 
of any valuation at all, before the articles were 
proved to be deficient, we request their attention 
to the following circumstance : 

" In the before-mentioned sum of 57421. 8s. 4ch 
is included the valuation of four bower cables, 
with which the Boatswain is charged as deficient, 
which are estimated at 19931. Notwithstanding^ 
appears that one of these cables was sent on shore 
and sold at Calcutta ; and that the other three were 
returned at Sheerness, before the ship sailed from 
England; and although actually supplied in Eng- 
land, and when returned of very little value, they 
are all charged at the Calcutta prices, 175 percent. 

MQRE THAN THE PRIME COST OF THEM when 



49 

new; and five-sixths of the amount of the other 
articles, ailed ged to be deficient, are charged ta 
him upon the same principle. 

" In a minute and accurate examination of 
the Boatswain's accounts, which we shall cause 
to be made, we shall give him credit for all the 
articles he may have returned at Shcerness, Cal- 
cutta, the Cape, Bombay, and Madras, or that 
he may have supplied his Majesty's ships the 
Sheerness, Sensible, Victor, Wilhelmina, Arro- 
gant, Ardent, Naiad, and any other, for 
which he may not already have credit, so far as 
it may be possible to ascertain the same by re- 
ference to the several Storekeeper's accounts, and 
to the supply and log books of those ships, 
which, however, will require a considerable time 
to execute. But we lament, that it is wholly 
out of our power, by reason of the Boatswain's 
vouchers having been mislaid or lost, to specify 
at present ail the stores that were sent on shore 
at Calcutta or Sheerness, for which the Boat- 
swain has not had credit, a point it would have 
been desirable to have ascertained to its full ex- 
tent before we submitted these observations to 
their Lordships' consideration, from the quantity 
of stores sent on shore at these places being very 
considerable. 

" It appears, that after having been inspected 
by the Chatham Officers, for the purpose of sta- 
ting the Boatswain's account, these vouchers 
were returned to this office, in December, 1803. 
We have, therefore, interrogated the Clerk upon 
the subject, who assisted Mr. Tucker in framing 
his Report, who informs us, that he had them 
some time in his possession, and kept the vouch- 
ers of the Romney and Sensible in separate draw- 
ers, that he at different times handed them to 

H 



50 

ancT from Mr. Tucker, and that that gentleman 
had himself frequent recourse to the drawers, 
occasionally taking some of the papers away, 
while he was employed in the investigation.—* 
Most diligent search has been made, and will be 
continued, for these vouchers, as they are so es- 
sential in making the re-statement of the Boat- 
swains accounts, we have already mentioned." 

By whom, and for what purpose, these vouch- 
ers were purloined, will naturally suggest itself 
to every one reading this. report— The only mat- 
ter of surprise to me is, that all the other docu- 
ments relative to this extraordinary business 
have not also been destroyed. The next par&> 
graph I consider of more than ordinary impor- 
tance . 

(* The two anchors of 28cwt. and 27cwt. sta- 
ted in the Report to have been returned at Cal- 
cutta, although no receipt is produced for them, 
Mr. Louis, who is now in England, has acknow- 
ledged to have been returned from the Romney 
to. the Marine Yard of Messrs. Hudson and Ba- 
con ; and has informed us, that if they have been 
charged in their bill, and it shall appear that they 
have not been supplied to any other of his Ma- 
jesty's ships, he will furnish an order on Hud- 
son and Bacon for two anchors of the same de- 
scription. 

There is also a material error in the sum at 
which the smoke sail is said to have been pur- 
chased at Calcutta, the Report making it 73]. 
although the charge for it in the bill js only fif- 
ty-five rupees, or 7l- 6s. 8d. sterling. We are 
unable to discover from whence the Commission- 
ers who framed the Report obtained this valua^ 
tion, it not being inserted in the statement of the 
prices of the other articles made out in the ofSoe } 



51 

2nd which we are informed lay before him at the 
time*. 

This charge is marked with particular em- 
phasis in Mr. Tucker's publication of the Com- 
missioners' Report; and I ready know not 
which most to admire, the consistency of this 
gentleman, or Ins daring defiance of truth.-— It 
is obvious that he never expected Sir Home 
Popham would have been heard in his defence, 
or he could not have hoped that so flragrant 
and so shallow an exaggeration would escape 
detection. He must have calculated that the 
same influence which wrung from the Com- 
missioners their concurrence to his fabrications 
would restrain them from a revision of it • that 
popular clamour would have smothered the ap- 
peals of justice, and that Sir Home would in 
"consequence be buried in obloquy and ruin. — 
To this conduct he may have been instigated 
(independently of the reason I have before sug- 
gested) by the admitted axiom, that men in a 
deplorable state of mind find a pleasure in 
spreading the contagion of their spleen : — they 
find, too, an advantage in it; for it is a general 
popular error to imagine the loudest complainers 
for the public to be the most anxious for its 
welfare. 

Although the Commissioners have not yet 
examined many of the remaining charges, I 
am persuaded my readers will hold me warranted 
in assuming that the rest have no greater founda- 
tion than the foregoing, which are the most pro- 

* With the permission of these respectable Commissioners, I will 
-furnish them with a key by which in their future investigations they 
will be able to discover the magnitude of the alterations they may here- 
after detect. It appears to me, on a superficial view, that wherever 
an estimate of repairs made in India has been stated in rupees the 
Clerk has altered each rupee, which is not half-a-crown, to a pound 
sterling ! Nothing can be more clear than that the smoke-sail at ru- 
pees would amount to between 7l. and 81, $ut who is there that would 
not think that the charge of 731, for such particle was " enormous and 
extraordinary P y 



52 

snineHt, and which appear to have engaged in a 
particular degree, the talents of Mr. Tucker. 
It will be entertaining to see what this gentle- 
man will adduce in his defence — he will doubt- 
less favour the world with a rejoinder ; for, as 
Mr* Burke says, " Cheats and deceivers never 
can repent ; the fraudulent have no resource 
but in fraud ; they have no virtue or wisdom in 
their minds to which, in a disappointment of 
fraud and cunning, they can retreat ; the wear- 
ing out of an old, serves only to put them upon 
a new delusion — unluckily too the credulity of 
dupes is as inexhaustible as the impudence of 
knaves*" 

" Having thus stated the specific orders or* 
which the report was founded, the mode in 
which it was drawn up, and the observations 
which have oceured to us upon the investiga- 
tion we have entered into in respect of some of 
the points therein mentioned ; we have farther 
to observe, that when the Report, as it came out 
of Mr. Tucker } s hands, was presented to the 
Board, it certainly did appear to us to be of an, 
extraordinary nature; but as it was framed un- 
der their Lordships' orders, and we had no 
reason to doubt of the facts which it stated, we 
therefore did no more than soften $pme of the 
asperities of expression which pervaded it, in- 
corporate the observations of the Committee of 
Accounts, (a copy of which is herewith trans- 
mitted)^ and add the last pa ragragh, relying,, 
that although we considered ourselves precluded 
from following any other course than that of 
literally executing the orders we had received, 
their Lordships', upon learning that we had ha4 
no communication with Sir Home Popham on 
the subject of the Report, would call upon him 
for explanation on such points of it as. they 
might deem proper. 



53 

u We conceived it to be the intention of the 
late Board of Admiralty, that we should pro- 
ceed in the manner we had done, without calling 
upon Sir Home Popham for an explanation, 
from the following circumstances ; that during 
the period of time, in which we received their 
Lordships' different directions for making spe- 
cific reports on certain points, as noticed in the 
former part of this letter, we received Sir Evan 
Nepean's letter of the 29th July, 1S03, trans- 
mitting the copy of one from Sir Home Popham 
to him, requesting that the accounts relating to 
the ships late under his orders might be exa- 
mined, and the directions contained in that 
letter were, " that we should proceed to the ex- 
amination of the said Accounts as speedily as 
possible, not, kozvever, giving him a preference to 
other Accounts." The only possible construc- 
tion to be put upon the expression of not giving 
any particular Account a preference to other 
Accounts is, that it is not to be taken in hand 
until the other Accounts then in the office shall 
have been examined ; and the only interpreta- 
tion to be given to the words, as speedily as 
possible in connection with those above quoted, 
is, that as soon as the Accounts in the office 
have been examined^ the Account in question is 
to be proceeded upon with the utmost dispatch. 

" We presume all that we did no* misconceive 
their Lordships' intention in this particular, 
from the consideration that they were not pleas- 
ed to order us to call upon Sir Home Popham 
for explanation upon receiving the Report, or to 
express any disapprobation of our proceedings in 
this Report, which at that time their Lordships' 
were so much in the habit of communicating to 
us, whenever they were not in uniformity with 
their intentions ; and we had still further grounds 
to conclude that their Lordships' fully approved 



54 

of the whole of our proceedings on this subject; 
from their order of the 24th August, 1804, by 
which they express their opinion, " that it wilt 
" be necessary to enquire into the subsequent 
" conduct of Sir Home Popham, and in conse- 
" quence direct us to employ the same persons' 
" who investigated the former Accounts and 
*' Expenditures, to take the same measures to 
" pursue their enquiry into the Receipt and 
" Expenditure on board the Romney, from the 
" time of her departure from Bengal, until her 
" arrival at Chatham, &c. &c." 

This Letter, when connected with the previous 
order under which the examination was insti- 
tuted, and the removal of Mr. Tucker from one 
department to another, for the obvious purpose 
of directing this investigation, amply justifies 
the conclusion of the Navy Board that they 
acted in conformity with their Lordships' 
wishes, in deviating from their established 
usage, in not calling on Sir Home Popham for 
an explanation of any of the circumstances re- 
ferred to in their charge. The Admiralty Board, 
though thus informed of their deviation front 
the received principles of evidence and equity, 
notwithstanding direct the same men to pur- 
sue, and the " same measures" to be pursued 
in the subsequent inquiry ; literally interdicting 
any matter which might elucidate the subject, 
or wipe from the character of Sir Home the 
stigma so fraudulently cast on it. The amended 
Report concludes in this remarkable manner. 
. " Having judged it proper, upon this im- 
portant subject, to submit fully to their Lord- 
ships' consideration the observations that have 
resulted from our examination of the parts of 
the Report alluded to in their Lordships' order, 
and Sir Home Popham's correspondence, it only 
remains for us to state, that we have examined 



55 

these parts only of the report ; the rest will be 
a subject for future investigation. 

** From the circumstances, however, v/hich have 
been set forth in this Letter, we trust their Lord- 
ships' will be fully satisfied that the inaccuracies 
and erroneous statements in the Report are im- 
putable to the individual Commissioner only 
who conducted the investigation ; and if any 
censure should be considered as due to us for 
lending the sanction of our names to the Re- 
port we trust that we shall stand excused before 
their Lordships', when they reflect that we were 
guided by the implicit reliance which we placed 
on the accuracy and industry of Mr. Tucker. 
We knew his general ability, and were sensible 
of the unwearied activity with which he pur- 
sued the investigation of this subject ; AND IT 
IS WITH EXTREME CONCERN WE DIS- 
COVER, FROM THE REVISION OF OUR 
REPORT, WHICH HAS BEEN OCCASION- 
ED BY SIR HOME POPHAM'S LATE AP- 
PEAL, THAT OUR CONFIDENCE HAS 
J3EEN MISPLACED *." 

" We are, 

Sir, 

Your very humble Servants, 

(Signed) 

A. S. HAMOND.— H. DUNCAN.— J. HEN- 
SLOW.—- Wm. RULE.-— W. PALMER. — H. 
HARMOOD. -S. GAMBIER.— F. J. HART- 
WELL." 

" To W. Marsden, Esq." 

* * So, so, thou common dog, didst thou disgorge 
Thy glutton bosom — And iiow 
Thoud'st eat thy dead vomit up, 
And howl'st to find it/' SHAKsr^EE, 



56 

With these extracted materials before them* 
the public will gain more information than could 
be acquired by the perusal of volumes : they 
will open the eyes of the most partial and incre- 
dulous, and disclose the precipice of destruction 
ever which some of their dearest privileges have 
been suspended. But let them not conceive 
that this singular controversy which has now 
taken such an extraordinary turn, is of a. partial 
nature, or interesting only to nautical men i — 
a little reflection will, 1 hope, convince my 
readers, whatever may be their station, that it 
is of the utmost consequence to themselves, and 
to their posterity, that the mass of corruption of 
which Sir Home's treatment is only a particle, 
should be sifted to the bottom. Such an in- 
vestigation must be made to retrieve the 
wounded honour of the country, and our pos- 
terity will have reason to bless the memory of 
the men whose fortitude will contribute to pull 
down that hydra of oppression, which, under the 
specious disguise of reform has committed such 
glaring and detestable iniquity. Britons, re- 
flect on the miserable condition of the people of 
France ; contemplate their present slavery, and 
take from them an awful example of what 
will be your own fate, if at any time you suffer 
the most glorious parts of your Constitution to 
be frittered away with impunity. Senators and 
feers of the realm, to you in all cases of politi- 
cal injustice, the people with confidence look 
up for redress. You have, in your recent dis- 
cussions on the irregularity in the Navy Pay Of- 
fice given an honourable proof of your integrity 
and independence, and I rejoice in the opportu- 
nity which now presents itself, to shew to the 
world that party politics or personal animosities 
had no influence in that decision — that the of- 



57 

fence, and not the men, engaged your considera- 
tion ; — it remains for you to shew that the 
^ame principle which has crushed a leader of 
one party will drag to punishment the minion 
of another. Whatever may be the extent of 
Lord Melville's criminalty, it is most venial, 
compared with that of Mr. Tucker, which, as it 
now appears, involves the deepest shades of moral 
turpitude and political oppression. Hence 

OUTRAGED JUSTICE IMPERIOUSLY CALLS 

FOR RETRIBUTION THE COUNTRY EXPECTS 

-—AND THE CONSISTENCY AND HONOUR OF 
PARLIAMENT DEMAND IT. 

J pr II 25 th, 18G5. 



>®^<s>< 



POSTSCRIPT. 

I^INCE the preceding pages were sent to the 
Press, I have seen, with a mixture of astonish- 
ment and indignation, that Mr. Tucker has pre- 
sented a Memorial, or Petition, to the House of 
Commons, involving the character of i he Gen- 
tlemen who have framed the Amended Report. 

And cannot Mr. Tucker await the decision of 
that honourable body upon the motion of his 
friend Mr. Kinnaird ? Is it that he trembles with 
alarm at the result, and wishes to influence the 
question; or has he been driven to desperation 
by the honest and indignant exposure of his 
artifice ? for, as Tacitus says, " Contemneri est 
gravius stultitice quam percuti" — It is more 
grievous to folly to be despised than to be struck. 

i 



58 

Gracious God ; how long will parties of up- 
right, honourable, and independent men submit 
with impunity to the insults of individuals, who, 
not long since, were amongst the lowest of their 
race. Is it possible that Mr. Tucker can have 
presumed to libel the whole Board of Commis- 
sioners, some of whom are as amiable men as any 
in the world, — men who are universally admired 
in private society, and whose conduct through 
life is not liable to the slightest insinuation of 
a dishonourable nature? — For Heavens sake who 
is this Mr. Tucker, that he dares to take such a 
liberty— a liberty for, which any common man 
would be instantly brought to justice ! — It can- 
not be that because he has accumulated riches 
he is beyond the reach of the law; for I know 
that its genial influence extends alike to the 
peasant and the prince. Let us see, then, who 
Mr. Tucker is. Since he has become great, 
and exemplified the assertion of Claudius, 
that the impudence of one who has been raised 
fivm lowness to a certain height, exceeds all 
bounds* — since then he is known pretty well — 
he is known as the confidential Secretary, and, 
no doubt, adviser of Earl St. Vincent. — But who 
was he before ? — I only learn that not long- 
ago, he was a Purser of a man of war. We 
next see him metamorphosed into a Commissioner 
of the Admiralty, and thus forced, as it were, in- 
to the society of men of honour and indepen- 
dence of principle, to assist them in their public 
labours. If I were to contrast the characters of 
these men with that of the individual in question, 
how great would be the indignation of all w ho 

* " Asperius nihil est humile, cum svrgit in altum? 

Vide Cobbett, vol. ii, p. 891. Vol. in. p. 59, 131, 395, 833. 



59 

should peruse the statement. But researches 
into private life have nothing to do with the sub- 
ject before me, and should always meet with the 
strongest reprobation ; it is the man's public 
conduct which, for the sake of national justice, 
must be held up to contempt 

What is his Petition to the House of Com- 
mons ? Is it not, I ask, a gross and stupid libel 
upon the Board of Admiralty of his day ? It can 
be nothing less ; for in it he accuses the Board 
of Inquiry of not having transmitted to him all 
their communications from the Navy Board. — 
And yet Sir Home Popham was kept in the dark, 
and separate statements repeatedly made 
against him in every direction, without allowing 
him the smallest opportunity of speaking, or ad- 
ducing any document in his defence. But the 
Christian maxim of " Do as you would be 
done by," never entered Mr. Tucker's religious 
head ;-^he thought himself immaculate, and he 
did not regard the advice of Lord Chesterfield, 
who says that "When once a person is suspect- 
ed of injustice, perfidy, malignity, and lying, all 
the parts and knowledge in the world will never 
procure him esteem, friendship, or respect." In 
short he now, in my mind, appears like the Pil- 
grim in the slough of despond ; and all his at- 
tempts to extricate himself seem only to involve 
him still deeper in the mire. This simple com- 
parison induces me, as a rigid moralist, to wish 
that he may remain in the filthy predicament in- 
to which be has brought himself; for if he can 
clear his character from the dirt which covers it, 
nothing is more evident than that he must do so 
by lugging in the eight most respectable persons 
against whose censure he has appealed. Hence 
as there must hf> InrLrino* math, on one side or the 



60 

other, and consequently a sacrifice on that where 
it may be found, let us sincerely hope 
that it will prove to be where the con- 
sequence will be least felt by society at large ; 
for what is the ruin -of owe individual compared 
to that of eight f ! ! — As to Mr. Tucker, sus- 
picion bears strong against him. — If he be iu- 
nocent, let him boldly await the pending in- 
vestigation;— but if he be now troubled with 
any galling reflections on his past conduct, he 
must have been a bad man, and the only mercy 
he can expect is contempt. " A strange con- 
catention of circumstances," says Lord Ches- 
terfield, " has sometimes raised very bad men 
to high stations ; but they have been raised like 
criminals to a pillory, where their persons and 
their crimes, by being more conspicuous, are 
only the more known, the more detested, and 
the more pelted and insulted. " 



FINIS. 



Vide CoBBETi, vol. "11. P. 89-1. Vol- lif P ?*n?- 



) " " * \ 

Chronological 

ARRANGEMENT 

OF THE 

ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS 

Printed by Order of the House of Commons, 
In February, March and April, 1805. 

Respecting the 

Repairs of the ROMNEY and others of His 

Majesty's Ships belonging to the Squadron 

lately under the Command of 

SIR HOME POPHAM, 

With their material Contents and some few CURSORY 
REMARKS in ELUCIDATION. 



Printed by /. Hayes, Dartmouth Strce', Westminster* 
1805. 



• I 



The Papers lately presented to the House 
cf Commons, relative to the Repairs of the Rom ney 
&;c> are so unusually voluminous, and their Ar- 
rangement is so exceedingly unfavourable to investi- 
gation, that the following Attempt to arrange them 
in the Order of Time cannot hut be acceptable to 
those who are to decide upon the Merits of the 
Case. 

Just as these Sheets were going to Press,, the 
Letter of Mr, Benjamin Tucker to the Secre- 
tary of the Admiralty was delivered to Mem- 
bers of Parliament, 

It is not thought necessary to delay the present 
Publication for the purpose of noticing that Pro- 
duction in detail ; it will immediately strike every 
Reader that as far as Sir Home Popham is con- 
cerned, Mr Tucker's Letter makes no sort of al- 
teration in the case; it zvould not be difficult to ex- 
pose the Fallacy of Mr.TvcKEK 7 s reasoning as to 
the Conduct of his late Colleagues, but they are 
no parties to the present Depute; Sir Home Pop- 
ham's Case needs n-o further elucidation. 

May 2nd 1805. 



CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT of 

the Accounts and Papers printed by Order of 
the House of Comxions, in February, March ^ 
and April, 1805, respecting the Repairs of the 
Romney, and others of His Majesty's Ships 
belonging to the Squadron lately under the Com- 
mand of Sir Home Popham ; with their mate- 
rial Contents, and some few cursory Remarks iri 
elucidation. 



5> Aq. Account of repairs of the Romney at Sheerne/s; and 

and Nov. of ^gg^g ano< ftores furnilhed her previous to her failing Pages 

to India, under the command of Sir Home Popham _,, ,,, 

33o> 55+ 

Another account thereof, with the amount of other 
repairs in April 1800 added. At the foot of this ac- 
count there is this " N. B. She was not docked in No- 
vember, and had only a few flight repairs." - 1 

December Survey and ftatement of repairs of the Senftble, and 
an account of ftores fupplied her, from the tjme of her 
being put into commitfion to that of her leaving England. 
It is herein Hated that (he had no falfe keel, and that it 
was omitted to be replaced, fo that me was fern to fea 
without any • .-* = .«■• 23c 

4th Dec. Letier from Popham to Navy Board, dated in Voru 
land Roads, complaining of the bad (late of the Romney^ 
and reprobating the conduct of the Sheernefs ©peers cm- 
ployed in her equipment - $f 
B Letter 



[ • ] 

1800. Letter from Popham to Mr. Pr ingle, Britifh Conful Pa § es 

is Dec. at Madeira, ordering a fupply of wines for the fquadron, 

and making him refponfibie for the quality and price - 224 

1 801 . Account of repairs had, and Sores fupplied at the Cape 

March. f Good Hope, to the five (hips under Sir Home Pop- 
ham's command ; viz. the Romney, Senfible, Sheernefs, 

Viclor, and Wiihthnina - .- > « - _ . 236 jr: 

All the demands were approved by Vice-Ad- 
miral Sir Roger Curtis, commander in chief. 

li May. Letter from Popham to the Marquis Wellesley, 
fron en board the Romney at fea, proceeding towards 
jfudaah -------- 252 

r-2 May Further general communications from Popham to his 
to2oJu!y. Lor a m ; p , from the Red Sea ----- 247 
Mis-dated 1803, in printed papers. 

26 June, Letter from Popham, in Cof.tr Bay, to Earl of Elgin, 

at Conjlantinople - - - - - - "" - 255 

Thcfe three letters {hew in what manner Sir 
Home Popham performed the firft part of his 
duty, that of forwarding the troops he carried 
out, and the Indian army under General Baird, 
acrofs the defert, to join the British forces in 
Egypt. The letter of the 12th May contains 
the following paragraph : u My next object was 
to fee how far a reduction in the enormous expence 
of- Tonnage could be effected, by making fome ar- 
rangement to difcharge thofe flips which appear 
extravagantly freighted, and to difpenfe with others 
of little ufe, and certainly very incompetent 
either to the fervice in queftion, or what ought 
to be expected from the high price given," - 2 . 

Which 



Which is verified by " A general review of 
Tranfp-rt tonnage employed in the Egyptian 
expedition," *■ - - - - - 124 

And by an affidavit of Capt. £@WEj the Eafr- 
India Company's principal agent of transports «. 12* 

The faving, as appears by thofe documents, 
was, immediately on the reduction, 

£, 17,014 per months 

And the poilerior reduc- 
tion of public expence - 10,5:04 

Total fating per month - 27,518 



The occafion of Sir Home Popham's proceeds 
ing to Calcutta, alfo appears from the fore«= 
going letters; viz. to obtain an interview with 
the Marquis Welleslby, and to get the Rom-* 
ney repaired. The Senfibk, which alfo wanted 
repairs, was ordered to that place with a con- 
voy, and the other three (hips remained in the 
- Red Sea. 

Sth Au? Letter from Admiral Rainixr. to Pgpham, recom- 
mendatory of Mr. Matthew Louis, and fating his 
having procured him the filiation of Deputy Naval Officer 
at Calcutta, on account of his being brother to Captain 
Thomas Louis, cr.e of the heroes of the Nile - - 107 

f tb Aug, Extract of another Letter from Admirs! Rainisr to 
Popkam :— " Mr, Matthew Louis, of Calcutta, who 
is deputy at that place for the Naval Officer at Madra? s 
has lately informed me that there is a great _glnt of naval 
ftores there, which have been offered to him at prime 
coft and freight ; I (hould, therefore, recommend your 
B % directing 



directing fuch articles to be purchafed there as His 
Majefty's (hips under your orders may require, as other- 
wife our magazines at Madras and Bombay may be too 
much reduced, and oblige the naval officers to purchafe 
frores when they will in all probability have become very 
dear, particularly if the war with the Northern Powers 
Jhould continue - - -.- * - - 108 

sithAug. Letter from Lord Wellesley to Popham, dated 
Fort William, expreffing his acknowledgments to Sir 
H. P. for his fervices, and his Lordlhip's fatisfaiftion at 
his arrival at Calcutta, " which cannot Jail to promote 
the public fervice," ------- 109 & 256 

toth Aug. Communication from Popham t© Lord Wellesley, 

whilft at Cheneurah, on various important fubje&s - 2 t;G 

id Sept. Letter from Marquis Wellesley to Popham, from 
Berhampoore, upon his Lordlhip's relinquifhing an ex- 
pedition which had beenfome time in preparation, highly 
commendatory of Sir Home's conduct in the armament, 
and touching upon his return to the Red Sea, and his 
mifiion to the Arab States - - - - - 258 

29th Ocl. Letter from Mr. Louis to Popham, on his having 
restricted him in drawing bills on terms different from 
thofe propofed by the India Company : and a fecond 
letter, dated 20th November, on Sir H»me Popham 
having found fome fault with Mr. Louis*s conduct - f 

Orders from Sir Home Popham to Capt. Sause, of 
the Senfible, on his leaving him at Calcutta to effect her 
repairs - - - - - - - - - ,03 & 245 

Sir Home Popham left Calcutta in November, 
and never faw the Senfiblc afterwards. 

Extra& 



8th Nov. Extratt of letter to Popham from Major Malcolm, 
private fecretary to Marquis Wellesley : — " The 
fteps you have taken to remedy the abufes in the depart- 
ments that are entrufted with the fupply of provifions, 
meets his Excellency's fulleft approbation, who feels 
himfelf obliged to you for the very proper attention you 
have given to that fubjeft, which it is his Excellency's 
opinion cannot be too iully inveftigated. He begs you 
will reft allured of his fulleft fupport in every endeavour 
you make to improve the mode of furnifliing /applies, or 
of Ji t ting out the prefent or future equipments, from the 
port of Calcutta. It occurred to his Excellency, that 
you had reduced the tonnage too much ; but this defect 
will be eafily remedied, and he leaves all arrangements 
on this head, with confidence,_to you and Mr. Barlow. 2 S9 

i 4th Nov. Letter from Popham to Hon.G. H. Barlow, Vice- 
Prefident of Calcutta, on Government receiving a dif- 
patch from England, by which it was fuppofed the 
French had fent an expedition to Macao - *59 

20thNov. Letter from Lord Wellesley to Popham, on this 

occafion -----_. = 297 

26th Nov. Letter to him thereupon from Mr. Barlow and Mr. 

Blaky, of the Council at Calcutta - 299 

30th Nov. Letter from Popham to Sir Evan Nepean, dated 
Kedgeree, on the ftate of affairs in India, for the infor- 
mation of the Lords of the Admiralty - - - 262 

5th Dec. Letter to Admiral Rainier from Popham, touching 

his future proceedings in the Rom?iey ~ - - 263 

1802. 
7th Jan. Letter from Popham to Lord Wellesley, from 

Madras .-_..•-_ -. 265 

Lcrd 



6 

8th Feb. LordWELLESLEY'sanfwer - - z6 $ 

March Sir HoME p °p ham ' s various communications, after 
bis return to the Red Sea, and whilft on his embaffy to 
the states of Arabia, up to Auguft 1802 - - ' lS 2 97 

Whilft Sir Home Popham was thus zcaloufiy 
engaged in thefervice of his country, the Admi- 
ralty Board were taking every ftep that could be 
devifed to harrafs and injure him. 

They began with objections to the bills drawq 
by Mr. Louis on the Navy Beard, for the re- 
pairs of the Romney and Senflle at Calcutta, and 
for (lores fupplied there for the ufe of the five 
fhips; alfotothc bills drawn by Mr. Spear- 
MAN.'for naval fupplies obtained in the Red Sea, 
as follows, 

4.th May ^tter from Navy Board to Admiralty, refpeaing 
payment of a bill for £.500 drawn on the Commiffioners 

by Mr. Spearman, the purfer of the Romney, in the 



Red Sea - 



379 



311 



jtkMay Anfwer, ordering payment, and the amount to be 

impreffed againft Popham and the drawer - : - 309 

Second bill for £.800, drawn by Mr, Spear- 
man, was ordered to be impreffed in like manner 
on the 30th April, 1803 - 

This £.1300 was all that was drawn by 
Spearman, as Naval Officer in the Red Sea 

,6 June! Letters from Navy Board to Admiralty, refpeaing 
n Do. I yment of bills drawn by Mr. Louis, the Naval 

[%* I Officer at Calcutta - : W T : - ~ 379> 3»o 
3 Aug. J Letter 



6th Aug. Letter from Admiralty to Navy Board, direttirg 
examination of accounts tranfmicted by Mr. Louis, of 
repairs of the five fhips compofing Sir Home Popkam's 
fquadron, and to report the expence which ought to 
have been incurred ; how far {lores neceiTary ; and whe- 
ther, if Pop ham had proceeded to Bombay, he might 
t not have been fupplied there ; alfo as to the rate of 

exchange at which the bills were drawn - 383 

i2thAug. Another letter from Navy Board to Admiralty, re- 

fpetfting further bills drawn by Mr. Louis - - 381 

i3thAug. Anfwer, that no directions could be given until report 

delired by letter of 6th Auguft, was made - 384 

acthAug. Letter from Navy Board to Admiralty, that it would 
require more time to inveftig^te the accounts, but inti- 
mating that all Mr. Louis's bills for £.80,833 5s. 4^. 
zvere drawn at a proper rate of exchange - - - ^l 

loth Sept. Letter from the Lords of the Admiralty to the Com- 
miilicners of the Navy. Being fatisfied with the part 
Mr. Louis had had in the tranfac~tion, they direct the 
Navy Board to accept and pay all the bills, and to 
f charge the amount as an impreft againd Mr. Louis, 
and alfo againft Sir Home Popham, who (they say) 
unwarrantably appointed him to act as Naval Officer, and 
authorized his drawing the bills. " And it is added, 
S( as Sir Home Popham has unneceilarily fubjected the 
public to this heavy expence, by proceeding with the 
fhips to Benglal, when, if any repairs of them were 
abfolutely requifite, or any confiderable alterations in 
the Senfible unavoidable, he mould have availed himfelf 
of the King's ftores provided at Bombay, we have judged 
it proper to make him refponfible for the fum fo ex- 
pended." A - -. - . ? ■ '*% * ' •• 384 

B 4 Ail 



All this is faid before any report whatever 
was made on the accounts, and when it was 
known that Mr. Louis was appointed Nava,£ 
Officer by Admiral Rainier, and not by Sir 
Home Popham; and that it was by the Admi- 
ral's directions the fapplies were drawn at Cal- 
cutta inftead of Bombay., In order to have a 
clear and comprehensive view of the nature cf 
the repairs and fupplies charged by Mr. Louis, 
it will be proper here to refer tp the follownig 
documents. 

Lift of all the bills drawn in India and the Red Sea, 
on account of the five (hips the Rimney, Senfible, Victor, 
Sheerneft, and Wilhelmina s (hewing by whom and when 
drawn, by whom approved, rate of exchange, and the 
information the bills contained receding the fervices 
for which they were drawn • ^77 

Abftracl of Mr. Louis's (the atting Naval Officer at 
Calcutta) account current in refpecl of his bills for 
^.80,833 55. ^d. and (hewing the amount incurred by 
each of the five (hips - » - 378 

Here it appears, that the bills drawn by Mr. 
Louis, with Popham's knowledge and appro- 
bation, amounted to only ^.7929. See alfo a 
lift of thefe bills - r - - I2 £ 

Account of the exchange on the bills fan&ioned by 
Sir Home Popham, which never exceeded 2s. 6d. the rupee 526 

Bill for the repairs of the Romney claffed under dif- 
ferent heads, making a tot<d of £ .9,321 4s. iod. - 166—173 

Compare 



Compart this bill with the expences of refitting 
the Heroine, Oifeau, and Senfble, at Calcutta, in 
*797> i?9 8 » andl 799 - - - - 166 



Account of naval {lores purchafed by Mr. Spearman, 
purfer of the Romney, in the Red Sea, and his other 

dilburfements there ...... 



35* 



An abftracl of this account againft: Mr. Spearman's 
tijls for/*. 1 300 -»,..,.-- 27S 

At the time thefe accounts were referred to 
the Commiffioners of the Navy, Mr. Tucker 
was not one, as may be feen by the next moft 
important document wbich prefents hfelf. 

iSthOcl. Firjl report of the Commiflioners of the Navy, refer- 
ring to the Admiralty order of the 6th Auguft, and their 
partial anfwer of the 12th Auguft, that they had with 
the utmoft attention investigated the accounts, and as a 
check and afliftance thereto, had referred the whole to 
the refpeclive officers at Deptford. They then fay, 
« We do not fee any reafon to conclude otherwife than 
that the repairs of the jhips have been executed, and the 
naval Jfores procured, upon the beji obtainable terms,** 
They afterwards add, " that great allowances ought 
to be made for the considerable tisne the work occupied, 
and the univerfal high price of every article, and that 
many of the principal articles ufed in the repairs of the 
Romney t in particular fuch as could not have been had 
at Bombay, otherwife than by purchafe, as effected at 
Calcutta, there being no King's flores thereof at Bowu 
bay any more than at Calcutta - _g s 

This 



10 

This report is figned by four of the Commit. 
lioners, viz. 

Sir Andrew Hamond, 
Mr. Duncan, 
Mr. Henslow, 
Mr. Gambier. 

It did not, however, afford the then Lords of 
the Admiralty the satisfaction they expected, and 
Mr. Tucker, being afterwards appointed a 
Commit oner of the Navy, the fubjeCt was pro- 
fecuted in a different way. 29 9 

1803. Co Py of a letter fl0m the Governor-General in Coun- 

23d Feb. cil to the Honourable Court ©f Diredors of the Eaft India 

Company, expreffing the very high fatisfaction of the 

Government of Bengal with the conduct of Sir Home 

PoPHAM. 

9th April Letter from Admiralty to Navy Board to pay a bill 
for Z.139 19s. 8d. said to be advanced by Colonel 
O'Neil to Lieutenant Campbell, as the bearer of dif- 
patchesfrom Popham to Admiralty, and which -fum wa$ 
ordered to be impreffed againft Popham, upon whofe 
credit it was faid to be procured. - -. * 31Q 

It does not appear by the papers now quoted ; 
but the fact is, that Campbell was no lieute- 
nant f which the Admiralty mujt have known), had 
brought no difpatckes, and had no letter of credit 
from Popham. The whole was a cheat, which 
the Admiralty ought to have feen through. The 
Admiralty knew that Popham had left Suez in 
jfune, and yet this Campbell appears by this 
letter to have been in December at Leghorn with 
his fuppofed difpatches. Popham never knew 

of 



2X6 



11 

of this circumftance till the papers were laid be. 
fore Parliament. 

, 7 A pril Letter fvcm Popham to Admiralty, advifmg his arri- 
yal in the Downs, and tranfmitting his journals, with a 
pommendation of his officers as to their knowledge of 
practical aftronomy. - 2 3 

April Anfwer, bating the praftice of taking latitudes by 

the ftars to be a common qualification in every Mid- 
shipman, t • 

x6th May Letter, from Sir Evan Nepean to Navy Board :— 
« I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the 
Admiraliyv to fignify their direftions to you, to fend 
one of the Surveyors of the Navy to Chatham, with direc- 
tions to take to his affiltance the officers of the dock, 
yard at that place, and make a very minute infpedion 
of his Majefty's (hip the Romney, for the purpofe of af- 
certaining the nature and extent of the feveral works 
performed on that (hip in the Eafz Indies, for which the 
very large fums of money drawn by Mr. Louis on your 
Board, by order of Sir Hume Popham were paid, exa- 
mining upon oath the warrant officers, as to the aftual 
ftate of that (hip when the works were undertaken, and 
to make a full and circumtlanti/.l report of the nature of 
the repairs performed on the faid (hip, diftinguilhing the 
value of the materials from the labour, as alfo of the 
ftores and furniture purchafed for the fupply of the faid 
fhip. As this furvey is ordered with a view of 
afcertaining how far the fums expended in the repair and 
fupply of that (hip have been properly applied, and will, 
in a great mwfure, guide their judgment, in the necef- 
fary ileps to be taken, on oceafion of the expenditures 
authorized by Sir Home Popham, their Loidfhips ex- 
pect 



12 

peel that the officers employed on the faid furvey, will 
be particular in their inquiries and in their reporr, let- 
ting them know, that it is probable they will hereafter 
be required to atteft the impartiality of their proceed- 
ings upon oath. - - - - - - 311 

17th May Letter from Admiralty to Navy Board, directing 
Surveyor to return after paffing one day at Chatham, and 
having inftrufted the officers as to the manner of con- 3 12 
dueling themfelves. - - - - g 

1 8th May Examinations of Carpenters, Boatswain, and Caulker, 
of the Romney, before CommiflionCrs Hope, Sir Wil- 
liam Rule, and the yard-officers, taken upon oath at 
Chatham. They all diftinftly (rated, that the Romney 
■ was in a bad ftate when foe firft got to fea ; that her 
walls were found very defective at the Cape ; that the 
fhip was extremely leaky in her paffage from the Red 
Sea to the Ganges ; that the (hip was in a very bad state 
on her arrival at Calcutta, ani required great repairs; 
that they never knew of any improper expenditure of 
ftores, or unneceflary work being done ; that the whole 
of the ilores in charge had been returned into Chatham q7 
dock.yard. ----- . also 

128 j 

2Dtb May Letter from Admiralty to Lord Keith refpefting the 

turning over the crew of the Romney to different mips. 2 

8th June Letter from Popham to Lord St. Vincent, deploring 

his Lordship not feeing him on many confiderations both 
public and private. -_*-.'■'_-"-- 2 ^ 

To this letter no anfwer was given, 

18th June Letter from Admiralty to Commiilioners of Navy, 
reminding them of making report of furvey on the Rom. 
ney, agreeably to dire&ions given for that purpofe. a j so 

Letter 3S6 



IS 

June Letter from Popham to Lord St. Vincent, of which 

the following is an extract : — " In making another effort 
for the honour of an interview with your Lordfbip, I 
truft 1 (hall not be accufed of prefiing improperly a claim, 
that is highly increafrd by the peculiarity of my fitua- 
tion ; the moft unfounded asperfions have been circulated 
with fuch an extraordinary degeee of fuccefs, that they 
now amount almoft to an impeachment, removeable only 
by an appeal to your Lordfhip, whofe protection I have 
confidered it my right to look up to on this occaflon. I 
am fatisfied, my Lord, that in a few minutes I mail be 
enabled to convince your Lordfhip of the regularity and 
propriety of my conduct in every inftance, and my irru 
portunity at this moment, arifes from the poffibility of 
a variety or fervices presenting themfelves, in which my 
local knowledge and practical information may recom- 
mend me to your Lordlhip's notice." - - 2 37 

3rd July j^ ote f rom j^d g T# Vincent to Popham :—« Lord 
St. Vincent presents hit compliments to Sir Homs 
Popham, and acquaints him that the Admiralty Board 
have directed the Commiffioners of the Navy to report 
on the fubject of the expences incurred by the ships 
late under his orders in the East Indies ; and when 
that Report is received, a copy of it will be tranfmitted to 
Sir Home Popham, with fuch remarks as the Board 
may think proper to make* = - 238 

3rd July Letter from Admiralty to Navy Board, to know what 
sums of money were drawn from Bengal on account of 
the ships under the orders of Sir Home Popham, and 
requiring various particulars respecting the same. 3S6 

4»h July Letter from Popham to Lord St. Vincent, soliciting 
t® be permitted to attend in person any Committee of 

Investigation 



14 

Investigation, by which he might be enabled to explain 
many circumstances that, when led into references, 
Would occasion considerable delay, and with a view of 
obviating difficulties, and removing embarraflments, of 
which he felt he had fo much reafon to complain. 238 

5th July Letter from Navy Board to Admiralty, wiih report 
of Comrniffioner Hop e, containing the refult of examina* 
tions at Chatham, and of the inveftigation of Mr, 
Louis's accounts, under the order of the 16th May, and 
which may be called the Comniiffionersykon^ Report.— 
The evidence of the warrant officers of the Romney 
herein inclofed, is referred to above under date the 18th 
May, and ought to have removed every ground of 
fuspicion. The various accounts made out by the 
officers of Chatham Yard, in order to (hew the dif- 
ference between the Indian charges and thofe in this 
country, tended to eftablish the obfervations in the 
Commiffioners former Report of the iSth October 1802, 
of the universal high price of every article in India ; 
and the actual payments mad^ by Mr. Louis are verified 
by voucher s t regularly certified, which accompanied the 
report. 1271.01 

What more was wanting in Sir Home Po- 
pham's complete jnilificatiGn, even if he had been 
at all amenable for the conduct of Mr. Louis in his 
department of Naval Officer ? Neither this re- 
port, or any of the inclosures were ever in any 
manner communicated to Sir Home, and he was 
kept ignorant of all that was going forward* 
whether it made fur him or againft him. 

23d July Note from Lord St. Vincent to Popham flating 
(contrary to the facl), that Sir Home Popham's letter 
of 4th July, had only been received at the Admiralty on 
the 22^, and defying that he would apply to the Secre- 
?ary of the Admiralty on the fybject of that letter 242 



15 

25th July Letter from Sir Home Popham to Lord St. Vin- 
cent (written before the receipt of the foregoing), urg- 
ing his tlaims to his Lordihip's protefti >n, from the tef- 
limonials of his conduct in India, which he inclofed, and 
foliciting to have queftions pat in regard thereto to 
every perfon who had ever been in company with the 
Romney, - «. - - 2 3 

r Letter from Popham to Sir Evan Nepean, in conse- 

26 or , ... 

27th TuJy <pence of Lord St. Vincent's of the 23d, foliciting to 

be perfonally called before the Navy and Victualling 

Boards. - 242 also 

. _ , Letter from Admiralty toCommifiloners of the Navy, 

29th July 

deliring them to proceed on Sir Home Popham's ac- 
counts asfpcedily as pojfibk, " not, however, giving him a 
preference- to other accounts" 

386 
. Letter from Popham to Navy Board, pointing out 

various circumftances for their confideration, and refer- 
ring to Mr. Louis, and his orders to Captain Sause, 

above referred to, unutr date of 29th October, 1801. 

101 also 
This letter was written, not knowing the re- 243 

port had been made. 

nthAug. Letter from Popham to Victualling Board refueling 
the accounts of Mr. Spearman, as Agent Victualler to 
his fquadron, and pointing out the care he had taken in 
restricting the excharge at 2s. 6d. the rupee. 

This is verified, and oppofed to the higher 
exchange upon bills drawn by order of Admiral 
Blank ett, by accounts made up at the Navy, 
Victualling, and Sick and Hurt Offices. By one 
of thefe accounts (Page 325,) it is alfo feen that 
the rations for sick by Admial Blankett, were 
at 4 millings and 5 (hillings per ration, and tfoofe 
of Sir Home Popham at only 4 shillings and 325, 32^ 
3 farthings .-.«,-. and $$r 



J6 

29 Aug. Publication of " Concife ftatement of fads, and the 
treatment experienced by Sir Home Pop ham, fince his 
return from the Red Sea ; to which is added the corres- 
pondence, naval, political, and commercial, to his Ex- 
cellency the Moft Noble Marquis Wellesley, &c. 
from Sir Home Popham, during his command in the 
Red Sea, and his fubfequent embafly to the States of 
Arabia," - 23010246 

3rd Sepf« Order from Admiralty to Navy Board, for removing 
Commiflioner Tucker from the Committee of Corres- 
pondence, to the Committee of Stores, the Junior 
Member of the Committee of Stores being the perfon to 
whom was allotted, by an order of the nth Auguji, pre 
ceding the examination of Warrant Officers accounts - 391 

By this means Mr. Tucker derived his (ituation, 
which was to enable him to fabricate a Third 
Report to his own fa(hion, and which might 
better anfwer the purpofe of thofe who called for 
it than the two former. It will be here feen 
how he went to work. 

2i.th Sept. Letter from Admiralty to Commiflioners of the Navy, 
with the mufter-book of the Romney y and defiring that 
when they replied to their Lordfhips' letter on the fub- 
jeel of the accounts of that (hip, they would report 
whether any and what irregularities appear in that book »%- 

19th Dec. Extract from the mufter-book of the Enterprize at the 
Tower, relating to the taking David Ewen Bartho- 
lomew by ? prefs-gang, and which ftates that he was 
prejfed on this day at the Admiralty t per order of Lord 
St. Vincent ------- 37* 

Mr. Bartholomew's certificate, of having passed for 
a Lieutenant, dated at the Navy Office, 1st June, 1803, 
and by which it appears he had been acting Master and 
Master's Mate of the Romney near three years. 376 



17 

An account of the service of Mr. Bartholomew after Pages, 
his being pressed, by which it. appears he was for nine 
months afterwards master's mate of the Inflexible - 375 

Affidavit of Captain Mitchell referring to that of 
Mr. Bartholomew, page 119, with respect to the at- 
tempt made to get him to write something against Captain 
Popham, when taken on board the Zealand from the 
Enter prize Tender - - - - - -319 

Letter from the Navy Bo3rd (i. e. Mr. Tucker) to 
Captain Mitchell, on board the Zealand at the Nore, 
desiring him to interrogate Mr. Nixon, the Boatswain of 
the Romney, respecting the parting of her cable on the 
12th August 1801, and how the remainder was disposed 
of, and as to the upsetting and repairing of the bitts 32} 

Answer from Captain Mitchell, that the Boatswain 
could not give much information, being at the time at 
sick quarters 5 but that the cable had been carried away 
in a strong borer, and the remainder returned to Mr. 
Louis j was not certain whether the bitts were repaired 
at Calcutta, or Mayapour, but refers to Mr. Davis, first 
lieutenant of the Romney ----- 321 

Reply, that the Boatswain misunderstood the cable en- 
quired after . - - - - - - - -321 

Letter from Captain Mitchell in answer, that Mr. 
Nixon now said, the cable was cut in Ballasore Roads in 
a hard gale, by the Captain's orders, to prevent her going 
a shore, that the remainder was used far the caulking of 
the ship ; but Mr. Davis, the first lieutenant, hindered 
him from taking a receipt for it from the carpenters, 
^Hedging that it was all expended - * #? - 322 

c The 



IS 

The above circumstances Boatswain says, he is realy P&S?§ 
to make oath to if required, 

SO Dec. Letter from Sir Evan Nepean* to Commissioners of 
the Navy: 

Xi 1 am commanded by my Lords Commissipners of the 
t€ . Admiralty, to remind you of my letters to you of the 
* ( 1 6th May, and JSth June last, on the subject of the. 
4t expences incurred for the ships, late under the orders- 
'< pf s|ir Home Pqpham in the East Indies, and to signify 
".their Lordship's direction to you to reply thereto, with, 
*{ as little delay as possible, stating every circumstance re- 
^ ( specting the repairs of the Sensible^ and Romney j ancj 
*\ also of the expenditure and supply of stores on board of 
*' those ships that may have come to your knowledge 
e< during the investigation of the surveyor of the Navy 
*' and Chatham officers, or from any other enquiries or 
€ -' examinations that may have taken place in consequence 
Jf? of the directions above mentioned - - r - 38%. 

A report, under the orders of the l(5t}iMay, had 
leen made so long ago as the 5tli July. 

31 Dec. Letter from Navy Board to Captain Mitchell : 

" We have received your letter of the 2S.th instant, con- 
<{ taining the account given, by the late Boatswain of 
re , the Romney, of the manner in which the remainder, of 
ec the cable cut on board that ship on the 12th August, 
c i 1801, was disposed of, and desire you will seriously 
l \ exhort him to state if any other circumstances of that 
ec nature took place with respect to the expenditure of any 
** other description of stores., as the effects of the present 
" state of his account cannot fail of being attended with 



1804. 
5 Jan. 



19 

" the most serious consequences to him, and we request you P»S es 

" will question him, whether the bitts received any, and 

" what damage when the said cable was cut, and when 

" the same was made good,'* - * - - 322 

It should be remembered that this man had, only 
a few months before, sworn that there never was 
any unnecessary or improper expenditure of stores 
while he was boatswain of the Romney, or any 
more stores supplied to that ship than were abso- 
lutely necessary - - - -, - 99 

Letter from Captain Mitchell, in answer to the 
above : 

'" I have questioned Mr, Nixon very particularly re- 
cc specting the stores received, returned, and converted ; 
et and also respecting the bitts. He says, most of the time 
** the Romney was at Calcutta, he was sick. The stores 
" were returned without his going with them, as he 
tf never went to return any j in what manner the new 
' s ones were purchased he does not know, as the notes 
" always came to the first lieutenant , the bitts were up* 
<f set, but cannot say when or where repaired ; believes 
" at Calcutta ; at which time he was sick on board the 
t( Norwich, which was a ship where all the people were 
" put on board of, while the Romney was repairing. He 
«.' likewise informs me that the then carpenter of th.e 
<f Romney is at present on board his Majesty's ship UnU 
if corn, and probably may give an account how the bitts 
" were repaired, as he declared he has said all he knows 
u respecting them" - - 322 



c 3 Letter 



20 

§ Feb, Letter from Mr. Marsden to Navy Board i Pages 

"Lara commanded by my Lords Commissioners of 
* c the Admiralty, to desire you will report with as little 
*• delay as possible, on the expences incurred by the 
f* ships, late under the command of Sir Home Popham, 
?' in, the East Indies, as likewise the expenditure of stores, 
" as directed by Sir Evan Nepean's letters of the dates 
" in the margin" - 315 



1$ Feb* Repeating letter from Mr. Marsden to Navy Board : 

" I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the 
H Admiralty, to remind you of their directions relative 
l e to the accounts of Sir Home Popham, and to desire 
(t you will hasten the report thereon ; and if it cannot 
e< be sent immediately to let me know the reason thereof, 
? and when it may be expected" - 313 

At this time Mr. Tucker was removed to the 
Admiralty, and was in fact calling for his own 
work, and being urged in this manner the remain- 
ing Commissioners were of necessity compelled 
to adopt it. 

20 Feb, This third report, bearing the signature of the honour- 
able the Commissioners of the Navy (but as is fully in 
evidence from pages 402, of these printed papers, the 
sole compilation of Mr. Benjamin Tucker, and which 
he had been months preparing) was thus brought forward. 
It was upon this paper, which was afterwards published, 
and most industriously distributed, even among the 
officers of the squadron of which Sir Home Popham had 
the command, in the shape of a pamphlet, with additions 
and notes not less injurious than the report itself, that 
Mr. KinnairDj on the 5th February, 1805, made his first 



motion id the House of Commons.— It is of course to be Pages 
found in page - --»--- i 

Before, however, the Commissioners would give the 
sanction of their names to this work of Mr. Tucker's, 
they had the justice to add, at the conclusion, the follow- 
ing paragraph : 

" We deem it necessary to state further to their 
" Lordships, that this report has been framed from 
" the documents in office, icithout oilf Laving 
il called upon Sir Home Popham, dgre&able to our 
" usual mode, for an explanation on any of the 
*' circumstances referred to therein, conceiving it 
"to hare been their Lordships intention, 
€t that we should proceed in that manner' - 8 

It is abundantly seen that Captain Pop ham's 
not- being" called upon was not for waat of his 
owft solicitation ; and it was the more extraordi- 
nary, too, for that as to the repairs of the Sensible, 
frequent comvuudcation was had tviih Captain 
SAtrsEof that ship ; Mr. Tucker has even attached 
two of this gentleman's letters to fits Report — one 
of which was ah answer from Captain Sause to a 
■requisition of the Board to attend the 7«, although ithas 
been said that the Board lias never any personal com- 
munications with officers, on the subject of accounts 16 and 20 

It is not possible, without rendering this analysis 
too voluminous, to go through the whole of this 
report, and the various production;; which accom- 
; pany it to page - «* * - - - 

Suffice it to say, 

That the charge it insinuates against Captain 
Pop ham, of making a profuse and extravagant ex- 
penditure of the public money, is proved wholly 
c 3 



22 

unfounded by every other paper which presents Pages 
itself in the voluminous publication, upon which 
this abstract is formed. 

That the charges of purchasing boatswains and 
carpenter's stores, exceeding allowance ; and that 
of an extraordinary expenditure of stores, are fully 
contradicted by an account before the House of 
Commons, shewing that the whole of the Romney\ 
expences whilst under the command of Captain 
Popham, was considerably under the vote of Par- 
liament - -----, 301 

That the boatswain's imaginary debt for stores, 
of 5742 1. Ss. Ad. sterling, had no existence, in 
fact, is seen in page - - - - 399 

As well as the means used by Mr. Tucker to 
make this pretended deficiency so glaring. 

That the cable and bitts were actually cut and 
damaged, and of which Mr. Tucker was fully 
aware, when he insinuated the contrary, as may 
be seen by Captain Mitchell's letters - - 321, 322 

The smoke sail, for which 73/. is said to be 
charged, is shewn to have been only Jl. 6s. Sd. 
(or 55 Sicca rupees), andjt should be noticed that 
the document proving this, is annexed to the second 
report of the Navy Board, dated 5th July, 1803, 
and must of course have been before Mr. Tucker, 
while he framed the third Report, stating it at 
73/. Seepage - - - - - • « 155 

Anchor supposed to have been made away with 
is fully accounted for, not only in log-book, but, 
in boatswain's exnence-book - *» 393 

In 



23 

In short, the Commissioners of the Navy's fourth Page3 
report, page 3Q7, most completely exposes the 
j fallacy of the whole of that fabricated by Mr. 
Tucker, upon which alone the charges against Sir 
Home Pofham are founded. 

22 Feb. letter from Admiralty to Navy Roard> requiring 

vouchers annexed to this third Report to be attested - 315—388 

24 Feb. Letter from Mr. Marsden to Navy Board. 

i { lam commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the 
'" Admiralty to acquaint ybit that having attentively fcon- 
ft sidered your Report of the extraordinary purchases 
u made by Sir Home Popham, and of the expenditure of 
te stores for the Romney and Sensible, at Bengal ; and be- 
*' ing struck with the enormity of the abuse apparent in 
'* your narrative of the above transaction, their Lordships 
rV are of opinion that it will be highly necessary to en- 
k< quire into the subsequent conduct of th a ^officer, until 
" his arrival in England, and have in consequence com- 
< l manded me to signify their direction to you to employ 
(i the same persons who investigated Hie former, accounts 
<( and Expenditures j to take the same measures to pursue 
<€ their enquiry into the receipt and expenditure of stores 
" on board the Romney, from the time of Lev departure 
4{ from Bengal, until her arrival at Chatham. ; and to 
" make a minute investigation of all the purchases made 
te by Sir Home Popham, either for the Romney or any 
" other ships tinder his orders, during that period; report- 
te ing to me for their Lordships information, with as little 
(c delay as possible, all their proceedings herein - 388 — 31 6 

1 March . Report of the Victualling Board, with vouchers an- 
nexed, on the expences incurred by the squadron under 
Sir Home Popham - ..... j74_21<) 

e 4 Letter 



24 

Letter from Sir Home Popham to the Admiralty on Page* 
the subject of this Report, dated 28th August * - - 221 

3 March. Letter from Admiralty to Navy-Board for Mr. Louis's 

Accounts ------- - 316 

4 or 5 Letter from Mr. Mae sd en to Commissioners of Naval 

>!arch. Inquiry: 

ff I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of 
f e the Admiralty to send you herewith Reports which they 
ie have received from the Commissioners of the Navy 
" and Victualling, on examining the accounts of expences, 
iC purchases, and supplies of stores for ships, late under 
< f the orders of Sir Home Popham in the East Indies} 
ee and also of the sales of articles sent from them to Mr. 
" Louis at Calcutta; and as their Lordships have nei~ 
te ther sufficient power nor time to investigate an expendi- 
el turc of the public money of so much importance, which 
"by the said Reports appear to have been of the most 
Ci enormous and profligate nature, they have deemed 
« it expedient to lay the whole before you, in order that 
"■ you may take such notice thereof as you shall judge 
" proper," - - - 303—32; 

These hard expressions are used before the per- 
son accused had been heard in his defence j and 
notwithstanding the body of evidence the Boards 
of Navy and Admiralty were in possession of, con- 
tracting their own charges. 

6 March. Letter from Sir Home Popham to Mr. Marsden, 

taking notice of the proceedings above recited - - 103 



Letter 



25 

9 March. Letter from Mr. Marsden to Popham. E**^ 

" I have received and communicated to my Lords 
4i Commissioners of the Admiralty your letter of the 6th 
** instant, and I am commanded by their Lordships to 
" acquaint you, that die papers which have been referred 
<l to the Commissioners of Inquiry relate merely to the 
** expenditure and purchases of stores and provisions tor 
" the ships late under your orders, and the sale of such 
*' articles as were sent on shore, the circumstances of 
il which their Lordships had neither time nor powers 
<c fully to investigate -j and their Lordships will direct that 
'' you may be furnished with copies of the reports made ly 
te the Navy and Victualling Boards on this sulject y on 
" your making application to them for that purpose/'' lOi 

Q March. Letter from Mr. Marsden to the Commissioners of 
Naval Inquiry, transmitting a letter from the Navy Board 
with the duplicate of Mr. Louis's accounts - - 303— -323F 

Q. What letter was this ? 

1 1 March. Letter from Popham to Navy-Board, requesting that the 

papers might be furnished him as soon as possible - - 104 

22March. Letter from Admiralty to Navy-Board for the Romncy's 

complete book, when last paid off - - 3i? 

26March. Same to same, acknowledging Jhe receipt of the book 317 

10 April. Letter from Navy-Board to Popham : 

C( In answer to your letter of the 11th ult. requesting 
ee to be furnished with a copy of oar Report to the Lords 

" Commissioners 



26 



re Commissioners of the Atari iratty, respecting the sup- . Page: 
'* plies to the squadron, late under your command in the ' 
!l East Indies, and the papers relating there to, — we ac- 
{C quaint you, that copies of all the papers which accom- 
' panied our Report to their Lordships, are preparing f or 
<[ you, agreeable to an order we have received from tlieir 
< ( Lordships, but we are not directed to send you a copy 
*' of the KMpoflT;.'' -: : '' ' . „ ■' : ' u 1q q 

These papers were never furnished to or seeh b^ 
Sir Home Popham, until they were laid on the 
table of the House of Commons. 

14 April. Letters from Admiralty to the Commissioners of Naval 
Inquiry, transmitting letters for the Navy-Board, of the 
5th July 1SG3, with the several papers therein referred to 303—327 

2 7 April. Letter from Navy-Board to Admiralty, with list of Sir 

Home Popham's squadron - - 317— 3&& 

2'8 April. Letter from Commissioners of Naval Inquiry, to Admi- 
ralty : 

'•Having received a letter from the Navy-Board, stab 
: ing that they are retarded in making an investigation, 
directed by your Lordships, into the expenditure of 
stores on board his Majesty's ship Romney, for want of 
the papers relating to that ship, which have been for- 
warded to us by your Lordships, we therefore return 
all the papers on the subject oftheexpence, purchases, 
and supplies of stores, for the ships late under the 
orders of Sir Home Popham, in order to your furnish- 
ing the Navy-Board with such as may be judged ne- 
cessary. " . . „ * 304 



tetter 



27 

1 Mjy. Letter from Admiralty to Navy-Board, to know what Pages 

papers they wanted to be taken from the Commissioners 

of Naval Inquiry - 317— 3S9 

2 May. Letter from Mr. Marsden to Commissioners of Naval 

Inquiry. 

'* I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of 
"_ the Admiralty to return to you the papers relating to 
" Sir Home Popham, their Lordships not being aware 
<f that the Navy-Board can have occasion to make any 
f( reference thereto, the material part being in duplicate, 
<( and their Lordships being desirous that these documents 
" should be lodged with you ^ 304 

2 May. Letter from Admiralty to Navy-Board, returning Rom- 

neys muster book - - - - . 318 — 389 

4 May. Letter from Admiralty to Navy-Board. 

{t Having laid before my Lords Commissioners of the 
C( Admiralty your letter to me of yesterday's date, request- 
" ing to be furnished with the papers which accompanied 
" your Report of the 20th February, for the purpose of _ 
*' investigating the accounts of the Romney as directed by 
<( their Lordships. I have their Lordships commands to 
fC acquaint you, that it is with much surprise they oh- 
" serve the reason you assigned for having the papers 
" above-mentioned returned — ' That they were sent to 
e< this office in such haste, as not to admit of copies being 
" taken,' when several months had elapsed from the 
" time their Lordships directed the accounts to be inves- 
" tigated before your Report was made 3 and as they 
" are not aware that any of the papers, which have been 
" received at this office, relate to the accounts at pre- 

" sent 



28 

if sent under investigation, they cannot consent to their Pages 

tf being withdrawn from the Commissioners of Naval 

tc Inquiry, before they shall have done with them. 

" Their Lordships do not think that any ship, late under 

"■ the command of Sir Home Popham came to England 

" with the Rwmney* ...... 31 S— 38CI 

These are the very papers the Admiralty or- 
dered the Navy-Board to furnish Popham with— 
but which he never got. 

IS May. Letter from Admiralty to Navy-Board. 

" Having communicated to my Lords Commissioners 
" of the Admiralty your letter of yesterday's date, on the 
" subject of the investigation of the accounts of the pur- 
" chases made by Sir Home Popham, and the expendi- 
'" ture of stores for the Romney and Sensible at Bengax,, 
" I have their Lordship's commands to acquaint you, 
" that they do not approve of the papers which accom* 
" panied your Report on the subject being returned to 
" you, and are pleased to direct that you should proceed 
" in the further investigation of the account ordered by 
ft their Lordships in the best manner you can, with 
" the documents * now in your office." - 3 IS— 38^ 

* That is, without the necessary documents. 



1 July. Letter from Admiralty to Navy-Board, requiring a copy 

of the Report to Sir Home Popham' s accounts - 31G 



2(5 July, Examinations of Matthew Louis, Esq. late deputy 
Naval Officer at Calcutta, before the Commissioners of 
Naval Inquiry, taken on oath. • 

If the refutation of the charges against Sir 
Home were to rest solely on this evidence, 4t would 
be ample and sufficient. " Here it is seen that Mr. 



Loins 



29 

.Louis tv as appointed Naval Officer at Calcutta, Pages 
by Admiral Rainier, in May 1801 ; and that he 
did all the duties of the office to the fullest extent. 
That every precaution was used in keeping down 
the expence of the repairs of the Romney and Sen- 
sible, and of the stores supplied for the five ships. 
That all the stores returned were regularly surveyed 
and sold by auction, there being no king's yard at 
Calcutta. That the charges for the boats were 
approved by the Company's builder - - 307 

13 Sept Letter from Mr. Marsden to Pofham : 

" I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the 
" Admiralty, to send you the enclosed copy of a Report 
il from the Navy-Board, relative to the several works 
" performed on His Majesty's ship Romney, while under 
" your command in the East Indies, and to signify their 
M direction to you to let me know, for the information of 
fi their Lordships, what you may have to state in expla- 
P nation thereof - - - - 10S 

The accused at last got to see what was charged 
against him, though still he could geA nothing but 
the Report itself, that is, the body of the third Re- 
port, or, as it may be justly called, Mr. Tucker's 
fabrication ; the papers upon which it urns founded 
not being forthcoming. 

20 Sept. Sir Home Popham's answer to Mr. Tucker's Report, 
written and sent to the Admiralty in sixteen days after he 
received, a copy of it, and most completely refuting every 
charge made in that Report, so far as it could be done 
without the papers which were annexed to it, and no 
Reference to these papers could be had, although by what 
is now disclosed by the Commissioners of the Navy's 



fourth 



30 

fourth Report, they required as much animadversion as Pages 
the Report itself - - - £*- io(> — 1 17 

Affidavits of William Shoveller, late surgeon of the 
Romney -, of Richard William Clarke, third lieute- 
nant; of David Ewen Bartholomew, master's mate; 
and of Henry Davis, first lieutenant ; all corroborating 
Sir Home Popham's statement, and his honourable con- 
duct in every respect, as Captain of the Romney. 117—121 

16 Dec, Letter from Popham to Navy-Board. 

<{ It is impossible for me to express what I fed on hear- 
4< ing that your report to the Admiralty, dated February 
" 20th, of the present year, is printed and sold in the look- 
e< sellers shops hi London, with the signatures of the Com- 
ff missioners of the Navy, and dated from the Navy Office. 
" I am sure, gentleman, you will recollect how fre- 
* ' quently I solicited your Board for a copy of that report, 
*'' to enable me to enter on a justification of* my conduct, 
" which I only very lately obtained. — You are, I have no 
tc doubt, aware that a publication framed in the manner 
ie the one in question is, and signed by such respectable* 
<<r names, must make an impression on the public, who 
" will naturally think, particularly those not acquainted 
*' with the forms of office, that it is done under your 
" sanction, unless it is as publicly disclaimed as it lias been 
" promulgated. I throw myself entirely upon you,r con- 
** sideration, knowing that such steps will be taken as 
sf shall appear to you to be most proper to do justice to 
" an injured individual, and to trace the channel which 
*' has taken from the archives of your office a paper under 
" the consideration of the Admiralty, and forced it on 
<c the public in a- manner best calculated to answer some 
" private purposes in stigmatizing the character of an 

<s officer 



SI 

* c officer, whose conduct forms the principal subject of Pares 
" that Report," - - - 1/3 

l7Dec. Navy-Board's answer: 

V We received your letter of the lfjth instant, and 
f< acquaint you, that not any copy of the Report you 
*' allude to has gone from this office, under the sanction, 
" or with (he hiowledge of the Navy- Boar d 3 " - 1/4 

1 805 . Date of return of papers by the Commissioners of Naval 

B Feb, Inquiry? to the Navy-Boafd - 302 

As the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry made 
no Report, it is presumed that they found no 
ground for animadversion on the conduct of Sir 
JIome Popham. 

12 Feb, Report from die Navy offica on passing Mr. Spear- 

man's account, as acting Naval Office in the Red-Sea. Q4 

This Report completely does away the impu- 
tation created by the Admiralty order of the 24th 
February, 1504— the whole amount of the account 
was only 1435/. Is. yd. 

13,15 1" t-etters from Popham to Navy-Board, pointing out 
Feb.' parts of the extraordinary matter in Mr. Tucker's Re- 
port - 3 Qi_ 302—393 

15 Feb. Navy-Board to Popham in answer, acknowledging the 

inaccuracies ip their Reports to the Admiralty, more fully 
detailed hereafter, a id concluding — 



T 



" If therefore there should be any thing in the pas- 
i: sage in our Report to which you allude, which may 

« bear 



32 

** bear a construction to your disadvantage, we trust that Page* 

* c this explanation will convince you that we consider it to 

" be unmerited," - 302 

23 Feb. Navy-Board to PorHAM — of the same nature as the 

preceding. 

25 Feb. Popham to Admiralty, requesting their Lordships 

* e To direct the Commissioners of the Navy to state 
" why and for what reason they departed from their 
f* usual practice, by founding their Report so much 
(e upon vague authorities, as officers journals, and not re- 
*\ sorting generally to the log-book of the ship, which 
** Is considered the only authentic document, and which, 
** m many cases of trifling inaccuracy, has been cited in 
*' their Report. This contrariety of proceeding has been 
€t so much the means of prejudice to me in the public 
*' opinion, that I am persuaded, that what I here ask, their 
** Lordships will consider only what is due to me" - ZQl 

28 Feb. Popham to Navy-Board, pointing out further irregu- 
larities in Mr. Tucker's Report, particularly respecting 
the boatswain's imaginary debt for stores • - - 304 

2§ Mar. Letter from Popham to Navy-Board, respecting smoke- 
sail for which /3/. was alleged by Mr. Tucker in his 
Report to be charged in the ship carpenter's Bill - 3Q& 

26 Mai, Answer — " Acknowledging the incorrectness of their 

** former report as to the smoke-sail, &c. 

I April, Fourth Report of the Commissioners of the Navy . - Sp7 
It is deemed right to insert this Report at length. 



[Copy] 

Navy-Office, 1st April 1805. 
Sir, 

We have received your letter of the 2?th February, inclosing 
One from Sir Home Popiiam, dated the 25th of the same Month, 
on the Subject of our Report of the 20th February, 1804, re- 
lative to the Expences of the Squadron late under his Com- 
mand, and communicating the directions of the Right Honorable 
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that we should 
state to you for their Lordship's information " why, as repre- 
li sented by Sir Home Popham we have departed from the 
" usual practice by founding our Report so much upon such 
" vague authority as officers journals, and not resorting gene- 
« c rally to the log of the Ship, which is considered the only au- 
" thentic document, and which in many cases of trifling inac- 
" curacy has been cited in our Report." 

In answer thereto, we request you will inform their 
Lordships that the Report appears to us to be in general founded 
on the stated account of the boatswain on the ship's log, on the 
captain's journals and on other documents in this Office, con" 
formably to directions received from their Lordships at different 
times on this subject as aie herein-after particularised : We must 
however admit that in a document made out by the Portsmouth 
Officers which is referred to in the Report, citations are made of 
the journal of the first lieutenant, which however tend merely to 
shew that it is silent on some occurrences which are mentioned in 
the log book. 

Altho* their Lordships have called our attention to this 
single passage of Sir Home Popham's letter abovementioned, 
there are other parts of it, which together with the correspon- 

D dence 



34 

dence that has taken place between him and ourselves on the 
subject of the Report demand our serious consideration, and 
as the Report of the 20th of February, 1804, is now before 
the Legislature, and from the light which has been thrown upon it 
in consequence of the examination we have entered into on some 
parts relating to circumstances pointed out by Sir Home Pop- 
ham, we have too much reason to apprehend that the Report is in 
many instances inaccurate : it is therefore incumbent upon us to 
lay before their Lordships a statement of such errors as have ap- 
peared, and to inform them of the manner in which the Report 
has been framed. 

The orde r ~ above alluded to, on which the Report is 
founded are as follows, viz, 

3rd July " ^° report what sums of Money were drawn from 

1803. " Bengal on account of the ships under the orders of Sir Home 
" Popham, and for what purpose those sums appear to have 
" been drawn, giving r heir Lordships all the information on the 
" subject which the documents in this office ma/ enable us to 
" afford. 

^ . " To state the irregularities which appear upon the muster 

ISO3 1 ■ " b°°^ s of tfte Rorancy" 

srt t-n " To state every circumstance respecting the repair of 

180^. " fob llomney &ad&en$ible t and the expenditure and supply of 
" stores on board those ships that have come to our knowledge 
" during the investigation of the Surveyor of the Navy and the 
" Commissioners, and other Officers at Chatham, or from 
" any other enquiries or examinations that have taken place in- 
" consequence of their Lordships' directions of the l6th May 
" and 1 sth June" for entering upon the investigation at Chat-" 
ham. 

We beg leave to remark that these are specific orders, 

having 



35 

having no relation to that official examination of the accounts of 
the Warrant Officers of the Romney, and those of the Naval Store- 
keeper at Calcutta, which they would have undergone in 
usual course of business. As -per: :j orders they were to b^ . 
specifically obeyed ; and they were carried into execution ulti- 
mately upon the principle laid down by their Lords!, 
conveyed in Sir Evan Nepea3T« letter to us of the 11th Au- 
gust, 1803, for dividing the dutie unong he several rs cf 
this Board individually a ler wi: ch order the exc 
Warrant Officers' accounts was allotted to the , inior / rf 
the Committie of Stores, Commissioner Tucker,. 
removed to this Committee i ...... 

dence by an Order from the Admiralty of 
1803. (after directions had been issued from the latter Co i- 
mittee to the Yard OtTtcers for preparing some materials neces- 
sary for the investigation) undertook the examination to a cer- 
tain extent of Mr. Louis' (the Naval Storekeeper's) Vouchers for 
the purchase and sale of Stores and repairs of the Ships at Cal- 
cutta, the inspection of the journals, the statements of the Boat- 
swain's and Carpenter's accounts, and the Log Bed:. 

Their Lordships will please to observe that the order of 
the 11th August 1803 directs the " allotting to each Member of 
" the Committee a proportionate and proper part of the 
" duties to be placed under his immediate superintendance 
" and responsibility, as suggested by the Commissioners of 
" Naval Enquiry, in the 188th Page of their Third Report/' 
Upon the principle of this order, the investigation so far as 
it related to the Committee of Stores w r as performed. It 
was conducted by Mr. Tucker, the junior member of the Com- 
mittee, assisted by one of the Clerks in the Office for Stores, the 
statements were drawn up by this Clerk under his direction, ex- 
cept N°. 8, p, 10, and 13, which were prepared wholly by the 

D 2 Yard 



36 

Yard Officers, and Mr. Tuckeh. The observations and infer- 
ences were also made by the latter Gsntleman, and neither the 
first nor the second Member, nor the Secretary of the Com- 
mittee of Stores had any concern in framing the Report of that 
Committee. 

It may be stated that the Report lay some time upon the 
table after Mr. Tccker was removed from the Navy Board to be 
the second Secretary of the Admiralty in January 18©4, and 
that the Board could without any objection on his part have 
made any alteration in his Report they might have thought pro- 
per. That zcas not practicable with respect to the facts alledged in 
the Report without an entire revision of it which would have taken 
up as many months as had already been employed upon it, and whick 
would not have occurred to be necessary. 

Certain inaccuracies have however been discovered in it 
in consequence of the examination that has taken place as be- 
fore mentioned which we consider it to be our duty to submit 
to their Lordships' consideration with our observations thereon- 

Sir Home Popiiam having by his letter of the 13th 
February 1S05 desired an explanation of that part of our Re- 
port, respecting the loss of an Anchor on the I lth August 1801, 
remarking that the expression in the Report relative to this An- 
chor is " enigmatical and equivocal" We have informed him by 
our letter of the 15th February. That though by the boatswain's 
stated account there appears to be a deficiency of one Bower 
Anchor, yet it is accounted. for by the Ships Log under (Jate 
the 10th June 1801, and as had been pointed out by Sir 
Home Popham ; and the official Statement which was trans- 
mitted to him with our before mentioned letter, shewed that 
upon allowing the Boatswain credit for this Anchor the Account 
of the Bower Anchor completely balanced : and it has since 
been discovered that the Boatswain has accounted for the An- 
chor 



37 

chor (with which he was charged as deficient) in his Expence 
Book under date 11th June 1301, Where it is regularly inserted 
that two Flukes were lost off the small Bower Anchor in shifting 
oirths, though the Chatham Officers in their statement of the 
Boatswain's account, have taken no notice of it, and it must have 
escaped Mr. Tucker also in his examination of the Log- Book, 
which he inspected very narrowly, and to which he has referred in 
many other instances, 

There is besides another error in the Report relative to 
this Anchor wherein it states that she (the llomney) had only 
one Anchor of 50 Cwt. on board when she sailed for "India 
which was afterwards returned at Chatham" The fact is that she 
never had an Anchor of that specific weight on board; the An. 
nhor returned must have been the one that was found on board 
upon survey on the 14th February 1302, viz. an Anchor of 
50 Cwt. 2 Qrs. 

However trifling it may appear to notice such a circum- 
stance, it is very material, as it is entirely upon this confusion 
of weights that the insinuation of the deficiency of an Anchor 
is founded, 

It may be proper here to observe that three separate 
sets of Officers in their respective Dock Yards were employed 
to frame statements on which the Report has in part been 
founded; that the Officers of Chatham Yard, who were directed 
to make a statement of the Boatswain's Account, possessed not 
the means of correcting any inaccuracy or omission therein by 
the Log Book, and that.aitho' the Officers of Pc .'srnouth Yard, 
who were required to compare the Boatswain's and Carpenter's 
expence Books, with the Log and Journals, pointed out in their 
Remarks various omissions of Articles in the Boatswain's expence 
Book noticed in the Log ; no addition*! credit has been given 
to the Boatswain for the same. 

In 



38 • 

It is stated in the Report, with regard to an Entry inrthe 
Log Book, relative to upsetting the Bitts in Calcutta River, 
" that there is no Expence of any kind made by the Carpen- 
» ter on account of repairing the Bitts, nor do they appeal 
« to have been repaired by the Log ; neither does it appear to 
" have been done by the Merchant Builders at Calcutta ; » 
Whereas we find that in the Bill of those Merchant Builders a 
charge is actually made for both Iron Work and Sissoo Timber 
for Bitts ; and with regard to what the Report slates relative to 
the " desired information" not having been obtained from the 
Carpenter respecting the upsetting the Bitts nor any " explana- 
tion from the Boatswain on this subject "it appears upon refer- 
ence to the examination of the Boatswain by Captain Mitchell, 
of the Zealand, that " the Bitts were upset but he cannot say 
« when or were repaired," but refers for information on this 
head to the Carpenter of the Romnbt who in his letter on the 
subject states, that at the time the Bitts were upset he was com* 
fined to his cot by illness and is not able to reply to particulars 
knowing only by re/) or if. that such an accident happened; so that 
altho' the Boatswain and Carpenter did not give the "desired 
information," they gave sufficient to shew that the Bitts were up- 
set as entered regularly in the Log, an entry, upon which the 
observation in the Report appears to be calculated to throw a 
doubt. 

Sir Home Popiiam having called our attention to the cir- 
cumstances stated in the report relative to a debt for stores o: 
a statement of the Boatswain's account of £5742 8 4 We have 
investigated this matter together with the other circumstances 
connected with it as set forth in the same paragraph of the Re- 
port in the best manner that Our present means will enable us 

to do. 

It is there represented that " there was expended betweer 
" the period of her (the Romney) outfit, viz, from the 8th De 

cembei 



39 

xi cember 1S00 to 25th May 1801, an excess of Stores above 
** the proportion for a twelvemonth as stated in N° 8, and the 
" Boatswain appears to have expended before he received any 
1 ' supply of these Articles more than in his charge as slated in 
" N°. 9" and reference is had to N° 10 to shew the very great 
quantity of Rope expended on account of seizing, tailing and 
strapping, which in the " space of fourteen months has amounted 
to no less than 3600 fathoms of various sizes' 7 " Nevertheless" 
the Report observes " if the whole of these enormous, most ex- 
" traordinary expences were allowed, there will remain a Debt 
" for Stores on a statement made of the Boatswain's account be- 
" tween the Sth July 1800 aud the 14th February 1802 of no 
" less a sum than ,£5742 8 4 of which the Boatswain can give 
iC no further account." 

On the contents of this passage we beg to offer some re- 
ma] ks to their Lordship's consideration. 

N e . 8 shews in respect of Canvas and Cordage the two 
articles of most importance in the account, the number of yards 
of canvas of particular sorts and fathoms of rope of certain sizes, 
expended between the 18th December, 1800 and 26th May 1801 
beyond a twelvemonth's proportion, but takes no notice of th* 
quantity of other sorts and sizes of these articles expended less 
than that proportion in the same time ; and leaving out of con 
sideration the question whether the quantity of Stores put on 
board a hhip for a twelvemonth's supply is or is not an adequate 
allowance under all circumstances and casualties, the quantity 
stated in the account to be extended is erroneous. 

N° 9 is meant to shew what the Report states that certain 
articles are made expended by the Boatswain more than were on 
h is charge ; and this is made out by a long process shewing the 
remains on certain fixed days, viz. 8th December 1800 and 2oth 
May 1801, and the expenditure of each article between that and 
•ther particular periods which it is here unnecessary to specify. 

4 



40 

A comparative statement of this account with a corrected 
mie made out from the same documents at tins Office is transmitted 
herewith from which it will appear that the former is very incorrect 
and that the Articles stated to be expended are very considerably 
reduced in quantity : it will likewise be evident that the over ex- 
penditure of the remaining few Articles may fairly be attributed 
to casual error either in the date of the expenditure of the Can- 
vas, a considerable supply of which was received two days after- 
wards, or to the issuing of one sized Rope for another nearly cor- 
responding, circumstances which occur in almost every Boatswain's 
account, but which do not effect a general Statement of his 
receipts and issues: in settling whicfe the deficiency of one article 
would be placed against the excess of another nearly similar. 

It is an extraordinary circumstance that in the framing of 
this account, (No.9) there is included in the line of" Articles ex- 
pended between the 26th of May and the time of the next sup- 
ply/' the quantity of some articles expended on the day of that 
supply, without taking into calculation as a set off the quantities 
received on that day, though it is evident that the articles issued 
were of those which were received on board on the same day.— 
In short, WE CAN scarcely think that there ever 
were such extraordinary means resorted to, to 
produce a particular effect, as have been in the 
framing of this most overstrained account. no. 10, 
is referred to, to shew that in fourteen months the Rope expended 
. n seizing, tailing, and strapping " has amounted to no less than 
" 3^00 fathoms of various sizes, and it is immediately added ne- 
«' vertheless, if the whole of these enormous and extraordinary 
" expences are allowed there will remain, &c. &c. 

We know not on what ground Mr. Tucker determined 
that these expences were "enormous and extraordinary' 'as it does 
not appear to what the epithets allude, whether to the expendi- 
ture of the Rope for seizing, &c* or to the expenditure as stated 

relative 



41 

relative to the accounts, No. 8, or to both of them together, 
(No. 9 having nothing to do with the question, or if it be taken 
into the calculation the greater part of it is reckoned twice over) 
for it is impossible to form any proper judgement of the necessity 
of the expenditure which may have taken place without taking into 
consideration the circumstances and casualties to which the ship 
had been subject during the service upon which she was employed. 

We now request to make some observations upon the Boat- 
swain's debt for deficient stores beforementioned which is stated 
at no less a sum than £5742 8 4. This assertion is founded 
upon a statement framed by the Chatham Officers of the Boat- 
swain's deficiencies with their valuation thereof, and altered in 
respect of prices in this office by the direction of Mr. Tucker; 
when the deficiency appeared so great as in the present case it 
would have been natural to conclude it to hare been owing to 
some extraordinary oversight, and but just, befoie a report of it 
was made in such very strong terms, to have endeavoured to 
elucidate it by every possible means which we had no reason to 
suppose had not been done. On the contrary, the utmost advan- 
tage was taken of it, and it is brought forward as a prominent 
charge, notwithstanding the very stated account itself afforded 
reason to conclude that Cables, and other large articles of stores 
were sent on shore at Sheerness in Oct. and Nov. 1800, and that 
for some of them at least (and those of the greatest value and im- 
portance), the Boatswain had not been allowed credit,. 

Mr. Tucker had also another document before him at the 
same time (viz.) Mr. Louis's account of sales which ought to have 
led to an investigation to ascertain whether the Boatswain had 
had credit for the large quantity of stores which appeared thereby 
to have been landed at Calcutta, among which 'is certainly a 
bower Cable which has been charged to him as deficient from his 
not having produced a receipt for it: neither, of these 

sounds 



42 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION HOWEVER WERE RESORTED TO 

for the purpose of elucidation, although the latter was 
made use of to shew that a few condemned Hammocks were sold for 
a very inconsiderable sum. 

On the contrary it appears that Mr. Tucker was 
anxious to avoid explanation, for in a monthly account 
from the Clerk of the Survey's Office at Chatham ot the progress 
in the examination of warrant officers' accounts, a notation is 
made that in consequence of a great deficiency of Cables, An- 
chors, and cordage, the Boatswain " had been written to." and 
on this document there is a minute in Mr. Tucker's hand writing 

is 

in these word*, " direct the Clerk of the Survey to make astate- 
" ment of the Boatswain of the Romney's account, and send it 
" to us without waiting for the Boatswain's explanation, as the 
" ship is on foreign service." and an order was accordingly sent 
to the Clerk of the Survey to this effect, 

We have only to remark on this transaction that the 
Boatswain was at this very time, no further off than on board the 
Zealand, Receiving Ship, at the Nore. 

From the circumstances before stated there is reason to 
conclude that the Boatswain has omitted to take receipts for 
many of the other stores landed at Calcutta and elsewhere or 
that he has lost them, he having been sick thirieen months. 

As the alledged deficiency of the Boatswain's stores is es- 
timated at no less a sum than £5J42 8 4, oi which £5232 8 
are over calculated at India prices, we have been led to enquire 
of the Clerk who altered the valuation of the deficiencies upon 
what principle he did it, and by whose order so novel a mode of 
calculating their value was resorted to, as it appears by the offi- 
cial document of the Chatham Officers that they have estimated 
the then supposed deficiency agreeably to usage at the English 

Prices 



43 

prices, amounting to j£2437 16 7. The Clerk in answer has 
stated that he was direcied by Mr. Tucker to alter the Officer's 
valuation from " the English prices at which they rated them to 
" the prices paid in India" that he however felt it his duty to 
suggest that it 'would be more equitable to value some of them at 
English prices, and the principle upon which the valuation 
was made is this — where it could be clearly defined that any 
quantity of any species of stores unaccounted for was not pur- 
chased atCALCUTTA, only the quantity purchased there is valued 
at Calcutta prices, and the remaining quantities of the said 
articles at English prices, but if it appeared that the full quan- 
tity of the deficiency had been purchased at Calcutta, altho' 
even a greater quantity of the same species had been supplied in 
England in that case the whole deficiency is charged at the 
Calcutta prices, without consideration of the circumstance that 
it was as likely the deficiency might arise from the one as from the 
other. 

To enable their Lordships to judge of the propriety of this 
new mode of valuation, or indeed of any valuation at all, before 
the articles were proved to be deficient, we request their attention 
to the following circumstance. 

In the before mentioned sum of ,£5742 8 4, is included 
the valuation of four Bower Cables with which the Boatswain is 
charged as deficient, which are estimated at <£l9$3. It appears 
that oneof these Cables was sent on shore and soldatCALCUTTA, 
and that the other three were returned at Sheer nt&s before the 
ship sailed from England, and though actually supplied in 
England, and when returned of very little v Tue, they are all 
charged to the Boatswain at the Calcutta prices, 175 per cent, 
more than the prime cost of them when new : and five sixths of 
the amount of the other articles alledged to be deficient are 
charged to him upon the same principle, 

In 



44 

In a minute and accurate examination of the boatswain's 
account which we shall cause to be made, we shall give him 
credit for all the articles he may have returned at Sheerness, 
Calcutta, theCAPF, Bombay and Madras or that he may 
have supplied to His Majesty's ships the Romney, Sensible, Victor, 
Willielmina, Arrogant,. Ardent, Naiad and others for which he 
may not already have had credit, so far as it may be possible to 
ascertain the s^me by reference to the several storekeepers ac- 
counts, and to the supply and log Books of those ships which 
however will require a considerable time to execute. But we 
lament that it is wholly out of our power by reason of the Boat- 
swain's vouchers having been mislaid or lost to specify at present 
all the Stores that were sent on shore either at Calcutta or 
Sheerncss, for which the boatswain has not had credit. at 
point it would have been desireable to have ascertained to its full 
extent, before we submitted these observations to their Lord- 
ship's consideration, from the quantity of stores sent on shoie at 
these places being very considerable. 

It appears that after having been inspected by the Chatham 
Officers for the purpose of stating the Boatswain's accounts, these 
vouchers were returned to this Officer in December 1803, we 
have therefore interrogated the Clerk (upon the subject) who as- 
sisted Mr. Tucker in framing his Report who informs us that- 
he had them some time in his possession, and kept the vouchers 
of the Romney, and Sensible in separate drawers, that he at 
different times handed them to and from Mr. Tucker, and that\ 
that gentleman has himself frequent recourse to the drawers occa- 
sionally taking some of the papers away while he was employed I 
in the investigation. Most diligent search has been made and will| 
be continued for these vouchers, as they are so extremely es- 
sential in making the restatement of the Boatswain's accounts,| 
we have already mentioned. 

Tin 



45 

The two Anchors of 28 Cwt. and 27 Cwt: stated in the 
Report to have been returned at Calcutta, altho' no receipt 
is produced for them, Mr. Louis, who is now in England has 
acknowledged to have been returned from the Romney to the 
Marine Yard of Messrs. Hudson, and Bacon and has informed 
us that if they have been charged in their bill, and it shall ap- 
pear they have not been supplied to any other of His Majesty's 
Ships, he will furnish an Order on Hudson and Bacon for two 
anchors of the same description. 

There is also a material error at the sum in which the 
smote s.ii j^safed to have been purchased at Calcutta, the 
Report ma hi .git £73, although the charge for it iii the bill is 
only 55 Rupees, or £7 6*s 8d sterling. 

' We are unable to discover from -whence the Commissioner 
•who framed the Report obtained tin* valued ion, it not being inserted 
in the statement of the prices of the other articles made out in 
the office, and which we are informed lay before him at the 
time. 

Having thus stated the specific orders on which the Re- 
port was founded the mode in which it was drawn up, and the 
observations which have occurred to us upon the investigation 
we have entered into in respect of some of the points therein 
contained ; we have further to observe that when the Report as 
it came out of Mr. Tucker's hands, was presented to the boa'd, 
it certainly did appear to us to be of an extraordinary nature, 
but as it was framed under their Lordship's on/er.s,afid we had 
no reason to doubt of the facts which is stated, we therefore did 
no more than soften some of the asperities of expression which per- 
vaded it, incorporate the observations of the Committee of Ac- 
counts (copy of which is herewith transmitted) and add the last 
paragraph; relying that, tho' we conceived ourselves precluded 
from following any other course than that of literally executing 

the 



46 

4fae orders we had received, their Lordships upon learning that 
we had had no communication with Sir Home Popham, on the 
subject of the Report, would call upon him for explanation on such 
points of it as they might deem proper. 

We conceived it to be the intention of the late Board o* 
Admiralty that we should proceed in the manner we had done, 
without calling upon Sir Home Popham for explanation from 
the following circumstances. 

That during the period of time in which we received 
their Lordships' different directions for making specific Reports 
on certain points, as noticed in the former part of this letter, we 
received Sir Evan Nepean's Letter of the 29th July, 1803, trans- 
mitting the copy of one from Sir Home Poph am to him, request- 
ing that the accounts relating to the ships late under his orders, 
might be examined, and the directions contained in that letter 
were " that we should proceed to the examination of the said 
" accounts as speedily as possible, not however giving him a pre- 
ference to other accounts" The only possible construction to be- 
put upon the expression of not giving any particular account a. 
preference to other accounts is, that it is not to be taken in hand 
until the other accounts then in office shall have been examined ; 
and the only interpretation to be given to the words " as speedily 
as possible," in connection with those above quoted is that as- 
soon as the accounts in the office have been examined the ac- 
count in question to be proceeded upon with the utmost dis- 
patch. 

We presume also that we did not misconceive their Lord- 
ships intentions in this particular from the considerations that 
they were not pleased to order us to call upon Sir Ho me Popham 
for explanation upon receiving the Report, or to express any 
disapprobation of our proceedings in this respect, which at that 
time their lordships were so much in the habit of communica- 
ting 



47 

ting to us whenever they were not in conformity with their in- 
tentions and we had still farther grounds to conclude that their 
Lordships fully approved of the whole of our proceedings in this 
subject from their order of the 24th February, 1804, by which 
they express their opinion " that it will be necessary to enquire 
" into the subsequent conduct of Sir Home Popham, and in 
" consequence direct us to employ the same persons who in 
" vestigated the former Accounts and Expenditures to take 
" the same measures to pursue their enquiries into the receipt 
" and expenditure of Stores, onboard the Romney from the time 
** of her departure from Bengal until her arrival at Chatham, 
44 &c. 

Having judged it proper upon this important subject to 
submit fully to their Lordships consideration the observation? 
that have resulted from our examination of the parts of the Re- 
port alluded to in their Lordships order, and Sir Home Pop- 
ham's correspondence, it only remains for Us to state that we 
have examined these parts only of the Reports ; the rest will b« 
a subject of future investigation. 

From the circumstances however which have been set 
forth in this letter We trust their Lordships will be fully satisfied 
that the inaccuracies and erroneous statements in the Report 
are imputable to the individual Commissioner only who con- 
ducted the investigation ; and if any censure should be considered 
as due to Us for lending the sanction of our names to the Re- 
port, we trust that we shall stand excused before their Lordships 
when they reflect that we were guided by the implicit reliance 
which we placed on the accuracy and iudustry of Mr. Tucker. 
We knew his general ability, an 1 were sensible of the unwearied 
activity with which he pursued the investigation of this subject. 
And it is with extreme concern We discover from the revision of 

the 



48 

thelteport which has been occasioned by Sir Home Popham' 
late appeal, that our confidence has been misplaced. 

We are, 
Sir, 
Four very humble Servants, 

A. S. Hamond. 
H. Duncan. 
J. Hens low, 
W. Rule. 
W. Palmer. 
H. Harmood. 
S. Gambier. 
F. I. Hart well, 



After which it is useless to add a single line for the remo- 
val of every idea of guilt in the Honorable Character calumniated 
by the former Report — but is not something more due to that 
Officer in order to satisfy public opinion? especially where it is 
seen that charges were not only made against every application of 
the accused to be heard in his defence, but in direct contradic- 
tion to evidence in the hands of the Reporter. 



J. Hayes, Printer, Dartmouth Street, Westminster. 



ff„ 



m-. 



THE AFPENJBIX* 



No. I. 



Narrative of Measures Pursued by the Officers who Re- 
monstrated against ceding their Rank to Sir Home 
Popham. 

JL HE Officers who felt themselves so much hurt at the 
appointment of Sir Home Popham to be Captain of the 
Fleet, as to represent their feelings on that occasion to the 
Commander in Chief, waited upon him as in conformity 
with thelaw and usage of the service*, and temperately, qui- 
etly, and respectfully, made knowa their grievance to him. 
After some conversation, Admiral Gambier, though not 
perhaps approving the act, was so far from condemning the 
mode of application, that he said to those officers, that he 
felt himself obliged by the delicate manner in which they 



* The articles of war provide for the quiet and temperate repre- 
sentation of grievances to the Admiral or Commander in Chief, 






> -x 



110 THE APPENDIX, 



proceeded; and recommended to them to address an official 
letter to him on the subject. This recommendation of the 
Commander in Chief produced letter No. 2. The officers, 
so far from menacing to withdraw their services from the 
fleet, as has been falsely and maliciously asserted, assured the 
Admiral they were ready to proceed with the expedition, 
that they should cautiously avoid every measure that had th* 
appearance of party or cabal : and neither invite or allow 
any other Captains to join with them, but keep their mea- 
sures and feelings to themselves. The pledge they volun- 
tarily gave was faithfully kept. The expedition sailed in 
a few days after, and in this situation they proceeded to 
sea. 

No ofticiai reply was ever made to letter No. 2. But 
during the expedition the officers were separately shewn by 
the Commander in Chief, a private letter from the First 
Lord of the Admiralty, in which, " he condemned them 
for their interference in the administration of naval affairs. 
Expressing surprize that any objection should be made to 
the appointment of Sir Home Popham, as none had ever 
been made to that of commissioner Captain Bowen, and 
adding he felt too much regard for the services of the Olli^ 
cers, to lay their letter before the Board of Admiralty/* 

The Officers replied, that their sentiments and feelings 
were unchanged, and they felt so much aggrieved and numi- 



THE APPENDIX. Hi 

liated in being called upon to cede their rank to Sir Home 
Popham, that they must press being relieved from their 
painful sensations as soon as the Public service could 

allow. 

The fall of the Danish fleet produced a promotion of 
Admirals, which secured two of the officers from the 
grievance they complained of. The third on his retum 
from the Baltic, was placed under orders that relieved him 
also from the painful situation. 

The grievance was removed, and in a manner flattering 
to the two officers who bore the rank of established Com- 
modores* They might justly have been accused of in- 
dulging a disposition rather lending to embarrass than re- 
lieve themselves from an injury, had they on their return 
continued to urge their original remonstrance. It ap- 
peared essential to Sir Samuel Hood and Rear Admiral 
Keats, both of whom have been in London since their re- 
turn, to justify themselves from the imputation that ap- 
peared to be cast upon them in the private letter of Lord 
Mulgrave's, before noticed. That has been done, I have no 
doubt, in a manner perfectly satisfactory to Lord Mul- 
grave, and equally so to themselves. Their feelings have 
been their guide. — Their object was never connected with 
party, and the moment they were placed in a situation that 
secured them from the indignity they complained of, and re-* 



112 THE APPENDIX. 

stored them to their natural seniority over Sir Home Pop-* 
ham, all personal subject of complaint was done away. 

Note. — Although it is ordered by the naval instructions, 
that a Captain of the Fleet shall be either a flag officer or 
one of the senior Captains of the Navy, the remonstrating 
Officers were not ignorant that one* precedent could have 
been adduced of an appointment of Captain of the Fleet as 
junior as Sir Home Popham. But where, as in this case, 
the time of actual employment has been very limited ; 
where the Officer had never served in a fleet; and other ob- 
jections occurred; they considered — and consider they 
forced a fair and legitimate subject of remonstrance, espe- 
cially as two of them very much his seniors were (by the 
new naval restrictions) though established Commodores, 
called upon to cede their rank to him at Councils and 
Courts-martial* 



* Captain Bowen. — If Sir Home Popham's services had be«n 
fis regular as those of Captain Bowen, and he had npt met the public 
disapprobation of the Admiralty, and the severe censure of a court 
martial, and had not pursued rather a speculative than a regular 
line of conduct, ao objection would ever have been made to him, 



THE APPENDIX. 113 



No. II. 



LETTER TO ADMIRAL GAMBIER, S^c. %c. Spc. 



North Yarmouth, July 23, 1807, 
Sir, 



w. 



E beg leave to represent to you, the extreme sorrow 
and concern, with which, as senior Captains in the Navy, 
■we are penetrated, in finding ourselves placed in situations 
that in any degree subject us to an inferiority to Captain 
Sir Home Popham. 

We are sensible that it belongs to his Majesty, to esta- 
blish the gradations of rank, and we have been bred to 
respect and venerate his authority. — We wish simply to 
convey our feelings— not to remark on the services or 
pretensions of any one ; waving, therefore, those of the 
present Captain of the Fleet, as much as circumstances 
will admit; and trusting, that our regular, direct, un- 
impeached, and almost uninterrupted services, will afford 
the most unequivocal denial to the supposition of our be- 
ing actuated by any indirect or party motives; we anxi- 
ously hope, Sir, that you will take such measures as you 



1J4 THE APPENDIX. 

may deem expedient, to relieve us from the painful sensa-» 
tions we at present experience. 

The principles under which we have been brought up, 
induce us to make any sacrifices that the service of our 
country may require : we are ready to proceed on any 
immediate service ; but we rely, that as early measures 
will be taken, wkhout injury to the service, as can be 
effected, to relieve us from the humiliating situations in 
which, by the appointment of Sir Home Popham as Cap- 
tain of the Fleet, we find ourselves placed. 

We have the honour to be, Sir, 

With respect, 

Your most obedient humble Servants, 

(Signed) SAMUEL HOOD. 
R. G. KEATS. 
ROBERT STOPFORD. 

To Admiral Gambier,. fyc. fyc. §c. 



THE AMENDIS. . 115 



No. III. 



Comparative Services of the Remonstrating Captains^ 
Sir Home Popham's. 



A HE services of the three Remonstrating Captains, 
have been as regular, us continued, and as persevering, as 
that of any Officers in the Navy. From their earliest 
entrance into it, they had undeviatingly attached them- 
selves to its plainest and fairest principles and pursuits ; 
a long, uninterrupted course of service, had been passed by 
them without blemish or suspicion ; they had severally 
served as Captains under Earls Howe and St. Vincent— * 
wider Lords, Nelson, Hood, Gardner, Collingwood, and 
other officers of high rank and character. Each had com- 
manded ships of the line in action, and received medals, 
and the thanks of their country. Each had commanded 
squadrons as established Commodores, with the rank of 
Rear Admirals, and acquitted themselves of their duty 
with approbation. — At the commencement of the war 



llG THE APPENDIX, 

with France in 1 793, two of them had been eleven years in 
the command of sloops of war or frigates ; and all of them 
three years post, with the rank of Colonels in the army. 
At this period, the Captain of the Fleet commanded % 
merchant ship under foreign colours — himself a Lieutenant 
of the Navy, and it has been said, a Burgher of Ostend ; 
employed in a traffic prejudicial to the commercial rights 
and prosperity of the East India Company ! I 

The services of the Remonstrating Captains, when 
called upon to cede their rank to Sir Home Popham, were 
from seventeen to nineteen years pott *, during which time 
they were almost constantly employed ; whilst the actual 
services of Sir Home Popham little exceeded four years* 
He had never served as Captain under any Admiral — had 
never been in a line of battle — nor had ever commanded a 
ship in action. It is true, he had been honoured beyond 
all precedent with commands. His conduct in one, after 
meeting the disapprobation of the Admiralty, became the 



* I believe Sir Samuel Hood served as Post Capt.» • • 17 years. 

Rear Admiral Keats also served ...*..-.....- 17 years. 

Captain Stopford, I believe, full • • •• ■ - • 15 years* 

Sir Home Popham little more than, I belteve ....-.<-.•. 4 years. 



THE APPENDIX. 117 

subject of parliamentary inquiry. A second had been 
productive of the severe censure of a Court-martial ; from 
which sentence, hitherto found a bar almost insurmount- 
able to advancement in the navy, he was raised, without 
precedent, considering these circumstances and his short 
services, and almost without a pause, to a situation, 
notwithstanding the rank and services of the Remon- 
strating Officers, that gave him a seniority over them. 
Under such unprecedented circumstances, they considered 
and consider themselves justi6ed in having adopted the 
legitimate mode of remonstrance, to procure redress of a 
grievance. 

The Remonstrating Officers acknowledge no inferiority 
of naval information or ability to Sir Home Popham, 
Their actions have corresponded with their professions ; 
and they have not been accustomed to view with respect, 
those whose conduct has been marked by speculative 
notions. — It has been said, the local knowledge of Sir 
Home Popham, made his appointment, as Captain of the 
Fleet, requisite. Men of versatile talents, have local know- 
ledge in all parts of the world. The Remonstrating Captains 
did not discover any extraordinary advantage which the pub- 
lic service derived from his appointment at Copenhagen : 
and on Admiral Gambier's advancing it as an argument at 
Yarmouth, he was reminded by the Captains — that he 
might as 'easily derive all the advantages he promised 
himself from it, by taking him in a situation that would 



118 THE APPENDIX. 

not be offensive to them, as in that in which lie had beea 
appointed to. 

Note. — One of the Remonstrating Captains, who com- 
mandeda frigate in 1790, was actually employed to cruize 
for El Trusco, the foreign merchant ship commanded by 
Sir Home Popham, then on her outward-bound voyage to 
the East Indies. She was stopped by the Brilliant frigate^ 
Captain Mark Robinson, on her homeward-bound voyage^ 
in 1793 or 1794. 



THE APPENDIX, 1 1.9 



No. IV. 



COPY of the SUMMONS sent to the Governor o/Copen* 
hagen, with his Answer to it, dated Sept, 1, 1807. 



British Head Quarters, before Copenhagen, Sept. l« 
Sir, 



W; 



E, the Commanders in Chief of his Majesty's sea 
and land forces now before Copenhagen, judge it expedient 
at this time to summon you to surrender the place, for the 
purpose of avoiding the farther effusion of blood, by giv- 
ing up a defence which it is evident cannot long be con- 
tinued. 

The King our gracious Master, used every endeavour to 
settle the matter now in dispute, in the most conciliating 
manner, through his diplomatic servants; 

To convince his Danish Majesty, and all tke world, of 
the reluctance with which his Majesty finds himself com- 
pelled to have recourse to arm*, we, the undersigned, at 
this moment when our troops are before your gates, and 
our batteries ready to open, do renew to you the offer of the 
same advantageous and conciliatory terms which were pro- 
posed through his Majesty's Ministers to your Court, 



l%0 THE APPENDIX. 

If you will consent to deliver up the Danish fleet, and 
to our carrying it away, it shall he held in deposit for his 
Danish Majesty, and shall be restored with all its equip- 
ments, in as good a state as it is received, as soon as the 
provisions of a general peace shall remove the necessity 
wfaicfe has occasioned this demand. 

The property of all sorts which has been captured 
since the commencement of hostilities will be restored to 
its owners, and the union between the united, kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, and Denmark may be re- 
newed. 

But if this offer is rejected now, it cannot be repeated". 
The captured property, public and private, must then be- 
long to the captors ; and the city, when taken, melt share 
the fate of conquered places. 

We must request an early decision, because, in the pre- 
sent advanced position of the troops so near your glacis, 
the most prompt and vigorous attack is indispensable, and 
delay would be improper. 

"We therefore expect to receive your decision by 
We have the honour to be, &c. 

J. GAMBIER, 
CATHCART* 

T& His Excellency, General Peyman, 
Governor of Copenhagen, <%c, 



THE APPENDIX. 121 

ANSWER. 

Copenhagen, Sep, I. 

My Lords, 

OUR fleet, our own indisputable property, we are 

convinced, is as safe in his Danish Majesty's hands as 

ever it can be in those of the King of England, as our 

Master never intended any hostilities against youYs. 

If you are cruel enough to endeavour to destroy a-citVj 
that has not given any the least cause to such a treat- 
ment at your hands, it must submit to its fate; but ho- 
nour and duty bid us reject a proposal unbecoming an in- 
dependent Power ; and we are resolved to repel every at- 
tack, and defend to the utmost the city and our good 
«ause, for which we are ready to lay down our lives. 

The only proposal in my power to make, in order to 
prevent farther effusion of blood, h to send to my Royal 
Master, for learning his final resolution, with respect to 
the contents of your letter, if you will grant a passport 
for this purpose. I am, &c. 

(Signed) PEYMAN, 



lit tfHE APPENDIX, 

No. V* 



ARTICLES of CAPITULATION for the Town and Cit 
tadel of Copenhagen, agreed upon between Major-Gene- 
ral the Right Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley j K. B. Sir 
Home Popham, Knight of Malta, and Captain of the Fleet $ 
and Lieutenant-Colonel George Murray, Deputy Quar- 
ter-Master-General of the British Forces, being thereto 

, duly authorized by James Gambier, Esq. Admiral of the 
Blue, and Commander in Chief of his Britannic Majes* 
tys Ships and Vessels in the Baltic Sea, and by Lieute- 
nant-General the Right Hon. Lord Cathcart, Knight of 
the Thistle, Commander in Chief of his Britannic Ma- 
jesty's Forces in Zealand, and the North of the Conti- 
nent of Europe, on the one part ; and by Major-General 
Walterstorff, Knight of the Order of Dannebrog, Cham- 
berlain to the King, and Colonel of the Norih Zealand 
Regiment of Infantry, Rear Admiral Liitken, md I. H* 
Kerclioff, Aid-de-Camp to his Danish Majesty, being duly 
authorized by his Excellency Major-General Peyman, 
Knight of the Order of Dannebrog, and Commander 
in Chief of his Da?iish Majesty's Forces in the Island of 
Zealand, on the other part. 

Article I. 
* V HEN the Capitulation shall have been signed 
and ratified, the troops of his Britannic Majesty are to be 
put in possession of the Citadel. 

II. A guard of his Britannic Majesty's troops, shall 
likewise be placed in the Dock-yards. 



THE APPENDIX. 123 

III. The ships and vessels of war of every description, 
with all the naval stores belonging to his Danish Majes- 
ty, shall be delivered into the charge of such persons as 
shall be appointed by the Commanders in Chief of his 
Britannic Majesty's forces ; and they are to be put in im- 
mediate possession of the Dock-yards, and all the build- 
ings and storehouses belonging thereto. 



IV. The store-ships and transports in the service of 
his Britannic Majesty are to be allowed, if necessary, to 
come into the harbour, for the purpose of embarking such 
stores and troops as they have brought into this island, 

V. As soon as the ships shall have been removed from 
the Dock-yard, or within six weeks from the date of 
this Capitulation, or sooner, if possible, the troops of his 
Britannic Majesty shall deliver up the Citadel to the troops 
of his Danish Majesty, in the state in which it shall be 
found when they occupy it. His Britannic Majesty's 
troops shall likewise, within the before-mentioned time, or 
sooner, if possible, be embarked from the Island of Zea- 
land. 

VI. From the date of this Capitulation, hostilities shall 
cease throughout the Island of Zealand, 

VII. No person whatsoever shall be molested, and all 
property, public or private, with the exception of the ships 



32£ THE APPENDIX. 

and vessels of war, and the naval stores before- mentioned, 
belonging to his Danish Majesty, shall be respected ; and 

all civil and military officers in the service of his Danish 
Majesty, shall continue in the full exercise of their autho- 
rity throughout the Island of Zealand ; and every thing 
ihall be done which can tend to produce union and har- 
mony between the two nations, 

VIII. All prisoners taken on both sides shall be un- 
conditionally restored, and those officers who are prison- 
ers on parole shall be released from its effect. 

" IX. Any English property that may have been se- 
questrated, in consequence of the existing hostilities, shall 
be restored to the owners. 

This Capitulation shall be ratified by the respective 
Commanders in Chief, and the ratifications shall be ex- 
changed before twelve o'clock at noon this day. 

Done at Copenhagen, this 7th day of September, 1807* 

(Signed) ARTHUR WELLESLEY. 

HOME POPHAM, 
GEORGE MURRAY. 

Ratifie par moi, 
(Signee) PEYMAN. 



TkE APPENDIX. 125 



No. VI. 



DECLARATION, dated Sept. 25, 180?. 



JlXIS Majesty owes to himself, and to Europe, a frank 
exposition of the motives which have dictated his late 
measures in the Baltic, 

His Majesty has delayed this exposition only in the hope 
of that more amicable arrangement with the Court of 
Denmark, which it was Majesty's first wish and endeavour 
to obtain — for which he was ready to make great efforts 
and great sacrifices : and of which he never lost sight, even 
in the moment of the most decisive hostility. 

Deeply as the disappointment of this hope has been 
felt by his Majesty, he has the consolation of reflecting, 
that no exertion was left untried, on his part, to produce a 
different result. And while he laments the cruel necessity 
which has obliged him to have recourse to acts of hostility, 
against a nation with which it was his Majesty's most ear- 
nest desire to have established the relations of common in- 
terest and alliance; his Majesty feels confident, that, in the. 
eyes of Europe and of the world, the justification of hi» 



126 THE APPENDIX. 

conduct will be found-, in the commanding and indispensa- 
ble duty, paramount to all others? amongst the obligations 
of a Sovereign, of providing, while there was yet time, for 
the immediate security of his people. 

His Majesty had received the most positive information 
of the determination of the present Ruler of France, to oc- 
cupy, with a military force, the territory of Hosltein, for 
the purpose of excluding Great Britain from all her accus- 
tomed channels of communication with the Continent ; of 
inducing or compelling the court of Denmark to close the 
passage of the Sound against the British commerce and 
navigation ; and of availing himself of the aid of the Da- 
nish marine, for the invasion of Great Britain and of 
Ireland. 

Confident as his Majesty was of the authenticity of 
the sources from which this intelligence was derived, and 
confirmed in the credit which he gave to it, as well by 
the notorious and repeated declarations of the enemy, and 
by his recent occupation of the towns and territories of 
other neutral states, as by the preparations actually made 
for collecting a hostile force upon the frontiers of his Da- 
nish Majesty's Continental dominions; his Majesty would 
yet willingly have forborne to act upon this intelligence, 
until the complete and practical disclosure of the plan had 
made manifest to all the world the absolute necessity of 
resisting it. 



THE APPENDIX. 127 

His Majesty did forbear, as long as there could be a 
doubt of the urgency of the danger, or a hope of an effec- 
tual counteraction to it in the means or in the dispositions 
©f Denmark, 

But his Majesty could not but recollect, that when, at 
the close of the former war, the Court of Denmark engaged 
in a hostile confederacy against Great Britain, the apology 
offered by that Court, for so unjustifiable an abandonment 
of a neutrality which his Majesty had never ceased to re- 
spect, was founded on its avowed inability to resist the 
operation of external influence, and the threats of a formi- 
dable neighbouring power. His Majesty could not but 
compare the degree of influence, which at that time deter- 
mined the decision of the Court of Denmark, in violation 
of positive engagements, solemnly contracted but six 
months before, with the increased operation which France 
had now the means of giving to the same principle of in- 
timidation, with kingdoms prostrate at her feet, and with 
the population of nations under her banners. 

Nor was the danger less imminent than certain. Al- 
ready the army destined for the invasian of Holstein was 
assembling on the violated territory of neutral Hamburgh : 
and, Holstein once occupied, the island of Zealand was at 
the mercy of France, and the Navy of Denmark at her 
disposal, 



128 THE APPENDIX, 

It is true, a British force might have found its way into 
the Baltic, and checked, for a time, the movements of the 
Danish marine. But the season was approaching when 
that precaution would no longer have availed, and when 
his Majesty's fleet must have retired from that sea, and 
permitted France, in undisturbed security, to accumulate 
the means of offence against his Majesty's dominions. 

Yet, even under these circumstances in calling upon 
Denmark for the satisfaction and security which his Ma* 
jesty was compelled to require, and in demanding the only 
pledge by which that security could be rendered effectual — > 
the temporary possession of that fleet, which was the chief 
inducement to France for forcing Denmark into hostilities 
with Great Britain ; his Majesty accompanied this de- 
mand with the offer of every condition which could tend 
to reconcile it to the interests and to the feelings of the 
Court of Denmark. 

It was for Denmark herself to state the terms and sti- 
pulations which she might require. 

If Denmark was apprehensive, that the surrender of 
her fleet would be resented by France as an act of contri- 
vance, his Majesty had prepared a force of such formidable 
magnitude, as must have made concession justifiable even 
in the estimation of France, by rendering resistance alto- 
gether unavailing. 



THE APPENDIX* 129 

If Denmark was really prepared to resist the demands 
of France, and to maintain her independence, his Majesty 
proffered his co-operation for her defence — naval, military, 
and pecuniary aid, the guarantee of her European territo- 
ries, and the security and extension of her colonial pos- 
sessions. 

That the sword has been drawn in the execution of a 
service indispensable to the safety of his Majesty's do- 
minions, is matter of sincere and painful regret to his Ma- 
jesty. That the state and circumstances of the world are 
such as to have required and justified the measures of self- 
preservation, to which his Majesty has found himself un- 
der the necessity of resorting, is a truth which his Majesty 
deeply deplores, but for which he is in no degree respon- 
sible. 

His Majesty has long carried on a most unequal con- 
test, of scrupulous forbearance against unrelenting violence 
and oppression. But that forbearance has its bounds. — 
When the design was openly avowed, and already but too 
far advanced towards its accomplishment, of subjecting 
the powers of Europe to one universal usurpation, and of 
combining them by terror or by force in a confederacy 
against the maritime rights and political existence of this 
kingdom, it became necessary for his Majesty to antici- 
pate the success of a system, not more fatal to his interests 



130 THE APPENDIX. 

than to those of the powers who were destined to be the 
instruments of its execution. 

It was time that the effects of that dread, which France 
has inspired into the nations of the world, should be coun- 
teracted by an exertion of the power of Great Britain, 
called for by the exigency of the crisis, and proportioned 
to the magnitude of the danger. 

Notwithstanding the declaration of war on the part 
of the Danish Government, it still remains for Denmark 
to determine, whether war shall continue between the twe 
nations, His Majesty still proffers an amicable arrange- 
ment. He is anxious to sheathe the sword, which he has 
been most reluctantly compelled to draw. He is ready to 
demonstrate to Denmark, and to the world, that having 
acted solely upon the sense of what was due to the security 
of his own dominions, he is not desirous, from any other 
motive, or for any object of advantage or aggrandisement, 
to carry measures of hostility beyond the limits of the ne« 
cessity which has produced them. 

We&min&er, Sept. 25, 1807. 



;HE APPENDIX. 131 



No. VIL 



DECLARATION, dated December IS, 1807- 



JL HE Declaration issued at St. Petersburg}], by his 
Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, has excited in his 
Majesty's mind the strongest sensations of astonishment 
and regret. 

His Majesty was not unaware of the nature of those 
secret engagements which had been imposed upon Russia 
in the conferences of Tilsit. But his Majesty had enter- 
tained the hope, that a review of the transactions of that 
unfortunate negotiation, and a just estimate of its effects 
upon the glory of the Russian name, and upon the interests 
of the Russian empire, would have induced his Imperial 
Majesty to extricate himself from the embarrassment of 
those new counsels and connections which he had adopted 
in a moment of despondency and alarm, and to return to a 
policy more congenial to the principles which he has so 
invariably professed, and more conducive to the honour 
of his Crown, and to the prosperity of his dominions. 

This hope has dictated to his Majesty the utmost for- 
bearance and moderation in all his diplomatic intercourse 



132 THE APPENDIX. 

with the Court of St. Petersburgh since the pea€e of 
Tilsit. 

His Majesty had much cause for suspicion, and just 
ground of complaint. But he abstained from the language 
of reproach. His Majesty deemed it necessary to require 
specific explanation with respect to those arrangements 
with France, the concealment of "which from his Majesty- 
could not but confirm the impression already received 
of their character and tendency. But his Majesty never- 
theless directed the demand of that explanation to be 
made, not only without asperity or the indication of any 
hostile disposition, but with that considerate regard to the 
feelings and situation of the Emperor of Russia, which 
resulted from the recollection of former friendship, and 
from confidence interrupted but not destroyed. 

The Declaration of the Emperor of Russia proves that 
the object of his Majesty's forbearance and moderation 
has not been attained. It proves, unhappily, that the 
influence of that power, which Is equally and essentially 
the enemy both of Great Britain and of Russia, has 
acquired a decided ascendancy in the counsels of the 
Cabinet of St. Petersburgh; and has been able to ex- 
cite a causeless enmity between two nations, whose 
long-established connection, and whose mutual interests 
prescribed the most intimate union and co-operation. 



THE APPENDIX, 13S 

His Majesty deeply laments the extension of the cala- 
mities of war. But, called upon as he is, to defend him- 
self against an act of unprovoked hostility, his Majesty is 
anxious to refute in the face of the world the pretexts by 
which that act is attempted to be justified, 

The Declaration asserts, that his Majesty tne Emperor 
of Russia, has twice taken up arms in a cause in which 
the interest of Great Britain was more direct than his own ; 
and founds wpon this assertion, the charge against Great 
Britain, of having neglected to second and support the. 
military operations of Russia, 

His Majesty willingly does justice to the motives which 
originally engaged Russia in the great struggle against 
France. His Majesty avows with equal readiness the in- 
terest which Great Britain has uniformly taken in the fates 
and fortunes of the powers of the Continent. But it would 
surely be difficult to prove that Great Britain, who was 
herself in a state of hostility with Prussia when the war 
broke out between Prussia and France, had an interest and 
a duty more direct in espousing the Prussian quarrel than 
the Emperor of Russia, the Ally of his Prussian Majesty, 
the Protector of the North of Europe, and the Guarantee 
of the Germanic Constitution. 

It is not in a public Declaration that his Majesty can 
discuss the policy of having at any particular period of 



t$J> , .^HE APPENDIX* 

the war ? effected, or omitted to effect, disembarkations of 
troops on the coasts of Naples. But the instance of the 
war with the Porte is still more singularly chosen to illus- 
trate the charge against Great Britain of indifference to 
the interests of her ally : a war undertaken by Great Bri- 
tain at the instigation of Russia, and solely for the purpose 
of maintaining Russian interests against the influence of 
France. 

If, however, the peace of Tilsit is indeed to be consid- 
ered as the consequence and the punishment of the imputed 
inactivity of Great Britain, his Majesty cannot but regret 
that the Emperor of Russia should have resorted to so 
precipitate and fatal a measure, at the moment when he 
iiad received distinct assurances that his Majesty was 
making the most strenuous exertions to fulfd the wishes 
and expectations of his ally; (assurances which his Impe- 
rial Majesty received and acknowledged with apparent 
confidence and satisfaction) and when his Majesty was, in 
fact, prepared to employ for the advancement of the com- 
mon objects of the war, those forces which, after the 
Peace of Tilsit, he was under the necessity of employing; 
to disconcert a combination directed against his own im 
mediate interests and security. 

The vexation of .Russian Commerce by Great Britain, 
is, in truth, little more than an imaginary grievance.-— 
Vpou a diligent examination, made by his Majesty's com- 



THE APPENDS, 135 

mand, of the records of the British Court of Admiralty, 
there has been discovered only a solitary instance in the 
course of the present war, of the condemnation of a vessel 
really Russian ; a vessel which had carried naval stores to 
a port of the common enemy, There are bnt few in- 
stances of Russian vessels detained : and none ic which 
justice has been refused to a party regularly complaining 
of such detention, It is therefore matter of surprise as 
well as of concern to his Majesty, that the Emperor of 
Russia should have condescended to bring forward a com- 
plaint which, as it cannot be seriously felt by those in 
whose behalf it is urged, might appear to be intended to 
countenance those exaggerated declamations, by which 
France perseveringly endeavours to inflame the jealousy of 
other countries, and to justify her own inveterate animosity 
against Great Britain, 

The Peace of Tilsit was followed by an offer of media- 
tion on the part of the Emperor of Russia, for the conclu- 
sion of a peace between Great Britain and France ; which 
it is asserted that his Majesty refused. 

His Majesty did not refuse the mediation of the Empe- 
ror of Russia, although the offer of it was accompanied 
by circumstances of concealment, which might well have 
justified his refusal. The articles of the Treaty of Tilsit. 
were not communicated to his Majesty; and specifically 
that article of tfce treaty in. virtue of which, the mediation 



l : 3t> THE APPENDIX. 

was proposed, and which prescribed a limited time for the 
return of his Majesty's answer to that proposal. And his 
Majesty was thus led into an apparent compliance with 
a limitation so offensive to the dignity of an independent 
Sovereign. But the answer so returned by his Majesty, 
was not a refusal ; it was a conditional acceptance. The 
conditions required by his Majesty, were — a statement of 
the basis upon which the enemy was disposed to treat; 
and a communication of the articles of the Peace of Tilsit, 
The first of these conditions was precisely the same which 
the Emperor of Russia had himself annexed not four 
months before, to his own acceptance of the proffered me- 
diation of the Emperor of Austria. The second was one, 
which his Majesty would have had a right to require, even 
as the ally of his Imperial Majesty ; but which it would 
have been highly improvident to omit, when he was invited 
to confide to his Imperial Majesty the care of his honour 
and of his interests. 

: But even if these conditions (neither of which has been 
fulfilled, although the fulfilment of them has been repeat^ 
edly required by his Majesty's Ambassador at St. Peters- 
burgh) had not been in themselves perfectly natural and 
necessary ; there were not wanting considerations which 
might have warranted his Majesty in endeavouring, with 
more than ordinary anxiety, to ascertain the views and 
intentions of the Emperor of Russia, and the precise nature 
and effect ot the new relations which his Imperial Majesty 
had contracted. 



TILE APPENDIX* 137 

'-The complete abandonment of the interests of the King 
ef Prussia, (who had twice rejected proposals of separate 
peace, from a strict adherence to his engagements with his 
Imperial Ally,) and the character of those provisions 
which the Emperor of Russia was contented to make for 
his own interests in the negotiations of Tilsit, presented no 
encouraging prospect of the result of any exertions which 
his Imperial Majesty might be disposed to employ in 
favour of Great Britain. 

It is not, while a French army still occupies and lays 
waste the remaining dominions of the King of Prussia, in 
spite of the stipulations of the Prussian treaty of Tilsit ; 
while contributions are arbitrarily exacted by France from 
that remnant of the Prussian monarchy, such as, in its 
entire and most flourishing state, the Prussian monarchy 
would have been unable to discharge ; while the surrender 
is demanded, in time of peace, of Prussian fortresses, which 
had not been reduced during the war; and while the 
power of France is exercised over Prussia with such shame- 
less tyranny, as to designate and demand for instant death, 
individuals, subjects of his Prussian Majesty, and resident 
in his. dominions, upon a charge of disrespect towards the 
French government ; — it is not while all these things are 
done and suffered, under the eyes of the Emperor of Russia, 
and without his interference on behalf of his ally, that 
his Majesty can feel himself called . upon to account 
to Europe, for having hesitated to repose an uncondi- 



139 THE APPENDIX, 

f tonal confidence in the efficacy of his Imperial Majesty's 
mediation. 

Nor, even if that mediation had taken full effect, if a 
peace had been concluded under it, and that peace gua- 
ranteed by bis Imperial Majesty.* could his Majesty have 
placed, implicit reliance on the stability of any such ar- 
rangement, after having seen the Emperor of Russia openly 
transfer to France the sovereignty of the Ionian republic, 
the independence of which his Imperial Majesty had re- 
cently and solemnly guaranteed. 

But while the alleged rejection of the Emperor of 
Russia's mediation, between Great Britain and France, is 
stated as a just ground of his Imperial Majesty's resent- 
ment, bis Majesty's request of that mediation, for the re^ 
establishment of peace between Great Britain and Den- 
mark, if represented as an insult which it was beyond 
the bounds of his Imperial Majesty's moderation to 
endure. 

His Majesty feels himself under no obligation to offer- 
any atonement or apology to the Emperor of Russia for 
the expedition against Copenhagen. It is not for those 
who were parties to the secret arrangements of Tilsit, to 
demand satisfaction for a measure to which those arrange^ 
ments gave rise, and by which one of the objects of them 
has been happily defeated. 



THE APPENDIX. 13$ 

His Majesty's justification of the expedition against 
Copenhagen is before the world. The Declaration of the 
Emperor of Russia would supply whatever was wanting ill 
it, if any thing could be wanting to convince the most ia- 
. credulous of the urgency of that necessity under which his 
Majesty acted. 

But until the Russian Declaration was published, his 
Majesty had no reason to suspect that any opinions whk& 
the Emperor of Russia might entertain of the transactions 
at Copenhagen could be such as to preclude his Imperial 
Majesty from undertaking, at the request of Great Bri- 
tain, that same office of Mediator, which he had assumed 
with so much alacrity on the behalf of France. Nor can 
his Majesty forget that the first symptoms of reviving con- 
fidence, since the peace of Tilsit, the only prospect of suc- 
cess in the endeavours of his Majesty's Ambassador to re- 
store the ancient good understanding between Great Bri- 

»n 

tain and Russia, appeared when the intelligence o, the 
siege ©f Copenhagen had been recently received at S Pe- 
iersburgh. 

The inviolability of the Baltic Sea, and the reciprocal 
guaranties of the powers that border upon it, guaranties 
said to have been contracted with the knowledge of th# 
British Government, are stated as aggravations of his 
Majesty's proceedings in the Baltic. It cannot be in 
tended to represent his Majesty as having at any time ac- 



14& THE AT-fENDIX. 

quiesced in the priciples upon which the inviolability of 
the Baltic is maintained; however his Majesty may, at 
particular periods, have forborne, for special reasons in* 
fluencing his conduct at the time, to act in contradiction 
to them. Such forbearance never could have applied but 
to a state of peace and real neutrality in the North ; and 
his Majesty most assuredly could not be expected to recur 
to it, after France has been suffered to establish herself in 
undisputed sovereignty along the whole coast of the Baltic 
Sea, from Dantzic to Lubec. 

But the higher the value which the Emperor of Russia 
places on the engagements respecting the tranquillity of 
the Baltic, which he describes himself as inheriting from 
his immediate predecessors, the Empress Catherine and 
the Emperor Paul, the less justly can his Imperial Ma- 
jesty reseat the appeal made to him by his Majesty as the 
gu ^ntee of the peace to be concluded between Great Bri- 
tg^Nintl Denmark. In making that appeal, with the ut- 
most confidence and sincerity, his Majesty neither intended, 
nor can he imagine that he offered any insult to the Em- 
peror of Russia. Nor can his Majesty conceive that, in 
proposing to the Prince Royal terms of peace, such as the 
most successful war on the part of Denmark could hardly^ 
have been expected to extort from Great Britain, his Ma- 
jesty rendered himself liable to the imputation, either of 
exasperating the resentment, or of outraging the dignity, 
of Denmark. 



THE APPENDIX.- >41 

If is Majesty has thus replied to all the different accusa- 
tions by which the Rassian Government labours to justify 
the rupture of a connection which has subsisted for ages, 
with reciprocal advantage to Great Britain and Russia ; 
and attempts to disguise the operation of that external 
influence by which Russia is driven into unjust hostilities 
for interests not her own. 

The Russian Declaration proceeds to announce the [se- 
veral conditions on which alone these hostilities can be 
terminated, and the intercourse of the two countries re- 
newed. 

His Majesty has already had occasion to assert,- that 
justice has in no instance been denied to the claims of his 
Imperial Majesty's subjects*- 

,-The termination of the war with Denmark has been so' 
anxiously sought by his Majesty, that it cannot be neces- 
sary for his Majesty to renew any professions upon that sub- 
ject. But his Majesty is at a loss to reconcile the Em- 
peror of Russia's present anxiety for the completion of 
such an arrangement, with his Imperial Majesty's recent 
refusal to contribute his good- offices for effecting it. 

The requisition of his Imperial Majesty for the immir 
diate conclusion, by his Majesty, of a peace with France, 
is as extraordinary in the substance, as it is offensive i* 

T 



142- ■ THE APPENDIX. 

the manner. His Majesty has at no time declined to 
treat with France, when France has professed a willing- 
Bess to treat on an admissible basis. And the Emperor of 
Russia cannot fail to remember that the last negotiation 
between Great Britain and France was broken off, upon 
points immediately affecting, not his Majesty's own inte- 
rests, but those of his Imperial Ally. But his Majesty 
neither understands, nor will he admit, the pretension of 
the Emperor of Russia to dictate the time, or the mode, 
of his Majesty's pacific negotiations with other powers. 
It will never be endured by his Majesty that any Govern- 
ment shall indemnify itself for the humiliation of subser- 
viency to France, by the adoption of an insulting and pe- 
remptory tone towards Great Britain. 

His Majesty proclaims anew those principles of Mari- 
time Law, against which the Armed Neutrality, under 
the auspices of the Empress Catherine, was originally di- 
rected; and against which the present hostilities of Rus* 
jjia are denounced. Those principles have been recognized 
and acted upon in the best periods of the history oi' Eu- 
rope : and acted upon by no Power with more strictness 
and severity than by Russia herself in. the reign of the 
Empress Catherine. 

TuosE.principles it is the right and the duty of his Ma- 
jesty to maintain: and against every confederacy his Ma- 
jesty is determined, under the blessing of Divine Provi- 



THE APPENDIX. 143 

dence to maintain them. They have at all times contri- 
buted essentially to the support of the maritime power of 
Great Britain; but they are become incalculably more va- 
luable and important at a period when the maritime power 
of Great Britain constitutes the sole remaining bulwark 
against the overwhelming usurpations of France ; the only 
refuge to which other nations may yet resort, in happier 
times, for assistance and protection, 

When the opportunity for peace between Great Britain 
and Russia shall arrive, his Majesty will embrace it with 
eagerness. The arrangements of such a negotiation will 
riot be difficult or complicated. His Majesty, as he has 
nothing to concede, so he has nothing to require: satisfied 
if Russia shall manifest a disposition to return to her an- 
cient feelings of friendship towards Great Britain; to a 
just consideration of her her own true interests, and to a 
sense of her own dignity as an independent nation, 

Westminster) Dtc. IS, 180/. 



14.4 THE APPENDIX, 

No. VIII. 



STATEMENT of the Danish Prizes, Stores, <fyc. 



JLJNE OF BATTLE SHIPS. They are iron-fast. 

ened, and neither constructed, nor calculated to bear the 
wear and tear of cruizing, which our ships of war are ex- 
posed to. Three of them only are fit for any immediate 
service, and the best of those has been valued at Eight 
JPomids per ton, by the officers of the Dock-yards; and it 
has been stated, that the. others, (provided upwards of 
one hundred shipwrights are constantly employed upon 
each), may be got ready for temporary service, (by new 
bolting their knees and beams, and by sheathing their 
bottoms with wood over the iron fastenings, and by cop- 
pering upon that sheathing,) in the following order : 
Eight, from six to fourteen weeks. 
Five, from five to six months. 
N. B. It was shewn in the papers called for by Mr. 
Jeffrey, of Poole, and Admiral Markham, that forty- 
seven shipwrights can build the largest-sized seventy-four, 
in twelve months. 

TIMBER. — Chiefly of small dimensions, and a great 
part of it fit only for river barges and such like craft. — 
Much of it is rotten and defective, and some lots of it have 
already been sold for fire-wood, in order to clear the Yards ; 



THE APPEXDIX. 145 

and a great deal more of it must be disposed of in the same 
way, as soon as it has been valued, 

SPARS. — Among the Spars, there are some that will 
be serviceable for top-masts for line of battle ships, but a 
very great proportion of them is absolutely unfit for any 
purpose whatever in the equipment of a ship of war, and 
would not, at this moment, sell for as much as the peace 
freight of them would be from the Baltic. 

HEMP.— About six hundred tons, or fourteen -days 
consumption for our Yards, 5 

CANVASS. — About five thousand bolts; or, three 
weeks consumption for our Yards. 

CORDAGE.— Chiefly very small, and not fit for the 
essential parts of the rigging of a ship of war ; and it has, 
upon every trial, proved to be very inferior to English 
cordage of the same size, excepting what has been re- 
sianufactured from old rope, and is called twice-laid. 



.FINIS, 



W. M'Domll, Printer, 



ERRATUM. 

Page 56, last line but one, for and these read the rest* 



M &V '"* i 



«M 



